Turkey has found a solution to continue paying billions of dollars in Russian gas imports after the US sanctions exemption expired, a senior Turkish official told the Middle East Eye.
Turkish officials revealed that Turkey will transfer gas payments to Austria's Raiffeisen Bank. The bank has a branch operating in Russia and is not subject to sanctions. The source added that Washington was satisfied with the solution.
Last year, Washington imposed sanctions on Gazprombank - a bank used by countries such as Turkey and Hungary to process payments when importing Russian energy.
In 2024, 45% of Turkey's gas imports will come from Russia, with an estimated value of more than 8 billion USD.
In December last year, the US exempted Turkey and several others from sanctions related to Gazprombank, allowing exempted countries to set up alternative payment channels.
In March this year, the Trump administration extended the sanctions exemption for another two months after a phone call between Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and US Finance Minister Scott Bessent. And the exemption expires on May 20.
On May 24, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Russia from May 26 to 27 at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. During the visit, Mr. Fidan is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and hold talks with Mr. Lavrov.
The top Turkish diplomat is also expected to meet with other senior Russian officials, including Russian presidential aid Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian delegation to the Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul on May 16, as well as meet with Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov.
According to many sources in Turkey, the discussions will focus on bilateral relations as well as discussions on cooperation areas such as trade, energy and tourism.
Turkey currently has a number of important energy projects with Russia, including the country's first nuclear power plant - the Akkuyu plant and many gas pipelines in the Black Sea.
According to Oilprice, part of the Russian gas Turkey imports for domestic use, the rest is exported to southeastern Europe.
Turkey also plans to become a major gas hub in the region through gas imports from Russia and Central Asia as well as through local oil and gas exploration and production activities.
The Turkish government has also released a plan to replace Ukraine as an important transit route between Russian gas fields and European consumers.
