Daily Sabah: Russia tells Europe to take it or leave it

EU officials are trying to come to grips with Russia's clear declaration on Wednesday that the natural gas supplied through Ukraine would be cut and diverted to the planned pipeline toward Turkey and that Europe would have to extend its network to the Turkish-Greek border if it wanted to continue purchasing the gas.

The move comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Dec. 1 in Turkey that the South Stream Project, which was supposed to transfer gas via Bulgaria, would be dropped. He said it would be replaced by a pipeline project through Turkey. With the South Stream being discarded, Russia and the EU had initiated talks on the future of energy relations. According to the written statement disclosed by the Russian Energy Ministry, Energy Minister Alexander Novak negotiated European Commissioner for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic on the resumption of energy talks between Russia and the EU.

During the talks that were held in Russia Wednesday, Novak stressed the necessity of adopting a common discourse to boost relations, despite differences of opinions concerning Ukraine.
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