Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia is ready to invest $1.4 billion to continue the development of the TurkStream pipeline stretching to European states via Serbia.
He also stressed that Russia was prepared to carry out projects that would allow for the extension of TurkStream, adding that many sides showed interest in such a prospect.
"With regard to energy issues, we are ready to implement projects to extend the TurkStream to European countries, to European consumers. Many show interest in this, and all we need is to arrange everything accordingly," Putin said at a joint news conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade.
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On the same day, President Aleksandar Vucic said after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Serbia wanted to receive gas through the TurkStream pipeline.
He also stressed Serbia could not and would not overpay for liquefied natural gas (LNG), but would like to receive the best natural gas at the best price — Russian gas.
Prior to his visit, in an interview with Serbian media, Putin revealed that Russia's Gazprom was working on various options for the extension of the onshore pipeline, with one of them set to carry gas through Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary. The Russian leader also suggested that EU states should seek guarantees from Brussels that it will not try to subvert the pipeline to sell Russian natural gas to Europe.