Russia hopes that Brussels will be guided by pragmatic, not politicized considerations in the issue of extending the Turkish Stream pipeline into the EU, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.
"For more than 20 years, Russia has been a reliable energy supplier providing 60% of gas needs and over 15% of oil needs . Further prospects for boosting cooperation emerge in view of an inter-governmental agreement on the Turkish Stream pipeline signed on October 10, which envisages the construction of a gas pipeline branch towards Greece," the minister said.
"The bitter experience with the South Stream project has taught us a lesson. We will be ready to extend this branch to the territory of the European Union only after we receive strong one-hundred-percent guarantees from Brussels that the project will be implemented. We hope that Brussels will be guided by pragmatic, not politicized considerations," he added.
(ITAR-TASS)
