Turkey is in talks with the U.S. to potentially lift restrictions on its cooperation with Gazprombank so that the country can continue to use the Russian bank to pay for gas imports. writes Bloomberg.
Turkey's Minister of Energy Alparslan Bayraktar has publicly stated that without getting rid of sanctions, Ankara will not be able to pay Russia. Bayraktar mentioned the previous sanctions related to Iran as a precedent.
"If we cannot pay, we will not be able to buy goods. If there are no exceptions, it can become a big problem for Turkey," he said. Russia is Turkey's largest gas supplier. last year it accounted for about 42% of imports. Gazprombank, through which payments for gas are made in rubles, came under US sanctions on November 21.
