星期四，土耳其总理埃尔多安和俄罗斯总理普京在安卡拉签署了能源协议。其中一笔重大交易就是土耳其同意莫斯科筹划的南溪天然气管道项目。此项目将把中亚天然气从俄罗斯经由黑海，绕过乌克兰运送到欧洲。土耳其签署协议，允许在土耳其水域内修建管道。意大利总理贝卢斯科尼出席了签字仪式。
一月，俄罗斯在和乌克兰出现付款分歧时，切断了欧洲的天然气供应，这让俄罗斯作为天然气供应者的可靠性再次受到质疑。莫斯科支持的南溪天然气管道将和欧盟支持的纳布科管道竞争。上个月，土耳其和欧盟的四名成员签署了有关修建纳布科管道的协议。
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin signed energy agreements in Ankara Thursday.One of the biggest deals involves Turkey’s approval for Moscow’s planned South Stream gas pipeline that will carry Central Asian gas from Russia under the Black Sea to Europe, bypassing Ukraine. Turkey signed an agreement allowing construction of the pipeline in Turkish waters. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was present at the signing ceremony.
Doubts about Russia’s reliability as a gas supplier resurfaced in January when Russia cut supplies to Europe during a payment dispute with Ukraine.The Moscow-backed South Stream pipeline will be competing with the European Union-backed Nabucco pipeline. Turkey and four members of the EU signed an agreement last month to construct that pipeline.