Moscow remains keen on creating a natural gas hub in Türkiye, according to Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko.
"The idea is absolutely on the table, and we hope it will be implemented," he told Russian news agency RIA, stressing that such an arrangement "will be in everyone's interests, both gas producers and consumers."
Despite the chatter around green energy, particularly in the West, it is obvious that this transition will take longer than what the "dreamers of a carbon-free world" first believed, the Russian official said.
"It is clear to all rational-minded economists that gas, as the cleanest carbon fuel, will remain the primary energy source for many years, even if it may be in a transitional period," said Grushko.
"So we need to think about the things we have been for many years-stability in supply, stability in demand, stability in transit, stability in the legal climate in which transactions are conducted, and … energy strategies," he added.
Russia's response to new EU sanctions will depend on what measures are included in the upcoming 9th package currently under discussion, Grushko said in a separate interview with news channel Rossiya-24.
He denounced the EU for taking "self-destructive" steps that ignore its members' interests and violate principles of the market economy.
"The EU views the principles of the market economy as an obstacle to achieving geopolitical goals that are formed and formulated not in Brussels, but in Washington," he said.
Grushko said there are some signs that existing curbs on exports of Russian foodstuffs and fertilizers could be lifted, but stressed that progress on the issue remains "unsatisfactory."
Assets of Russia's largest agricultural companies and people linked to them remain frozen, the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) is barred from the SWIFT international payment system, and there is still a ban on sales of agricultural equipment spare parts to Russia, he explained.
"All these problems need to be solved," he said, emphasizing that Moscow remains hopeful that "reason will prevail."
If the EU is really concerned about the issue of global food security, it needs to act fast and make the necessary decisions, he added.
On the Ukraine grain deal, Grushko asserted that Russia will continue to work with the UN to ensure all provisions of the agreement are fulfilled.
