"I am convinced that Russia and Turkey will implement much more energy and other projects together… Unfortunately, the world we are living in has a serious tendency toward escalation, whereas Russia and Turkey serve as another example – an example of mutually and globally beneficial cooperation," Putin said in Istanbul.
Russian President Vladimir Putin flew to Istanbul on Tuesday to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and give a start to TurkStream gas pipeline.
8 January 2020, 12:27 GMT
Wednesday's launch ceremony was also attended by the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
Both Balkan countries will be major recipients of gas coming through TurkStream.
The double-branch pipeline with a total annual capacity of 31.5 billion cubic metres runs from Russia to Turkey under the Black Sea. The parallel pipelines will ship gas for Turkish and European consumption.
