The Kremlin has made purported claims of a foiled attempt to sabotage a major natural gas pipeline that stems from Russia to Turkey and Southern Europe called the TurkStream.
“The Kremlin said on Thursday that several people had been arrested during a foiled attack on the TurkStream gas pipeline on Russian territory.
Russia has said it is stepping up security on the TurkStream pipeline, which carries Russian gas to Turkey, amid unexplained ruptures on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea and an oil leak on the Druzhba pipeline in Poland”. -Reuters
Following the sabotage of the Nord Stream, TurkStream remains the only conduit for Russian natural gas to Europe besides the pipelines that pass through Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to set up an alternative route for gas exports to Europe after explosive blasts ruptured three out of the four pipes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 subsea pipeline systems.
Addressing an energy conference in Moscow, Putin suggested setting up a "gas hub" for Europe in Turkey and using the TurkStream pipeline system as a substitute for Nord Stream.
“The United Nations welcomes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the possible extension of the Black Sea grain deal, which expires in November, Stephane Dujarric, the UN secretary-general's spokesperson, said on Thursday.
‘We are welcoming the news coming out of meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Erdogan talking about a possibility of extension of that deal that [will] pass its date in November’, Dujarric said at a press briefing.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has just been in touch with Turkish authorities trying to get more details, he said.
As previously reported, UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths will visit Moscow to discuss the grain deal on October 16th.
Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine signed the UN-brokered document in Istanbul on July 22nd to open a corridor for grain exports from three Ukrainian ports - Chernomorsk, Odessa, and Yuzhny.
Previously, the Western media reported that the grain deal was jeopardized due to a large number of ships waiting in line to ship Ukrainian grain.
Theoretically, Russia could try to export Russian liquified natural gas across the world, if the necessary infrastructure is built in Turkey.
Although the Russian and Turkish leaders are suppose to discuss possible diplomatic solutions to the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and NATO against Russia over the special military operation in Ukraine at a future point in time, they did not touch on the subject during their public statements.
It would come as a surprise if the TurkStream gas pipeline were able to effectively replace the Nord Stream pipelines that were damaged in explosions last month.
Nevertheless, with gas costs in Europe currently about six times higher than last year’s average price due to Russian undersupply, the European Union will seemingly have its hands tied when it comes time for negotiations.