Russia’s Novak Says Turkish Stream Project Has Been Halted

Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that preparatory work on the Turkish Stream pipeline project has been temporarily suspended.

"Currently work on Turkish Stream has been halted," he said in Moscow on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held meetings with energy partners in Qatar and Azerbaijan, hinting at a possible escalation between Turkey and Russia in the aftermath of Turkish downing of a Russian fighter jet. 

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to the event as a “war crime”.

Moscow is also working to supply electricity to Crimea after a partial blackout affected the region. The power lines in Ukraine were sabotaged on November 22. The first power bridge to the peninsula across the Kerch Strait has been recently completed.