ISTANBUL, October 3. /TASS/. Turkey will continue purchasing natural gas from Russia, despite US calls to abandon the republic's imports of Russian energy resources, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told CNN Turk television channel.
"We have agreements with Russia. The winter season is approaching," Bayraktar said. "We cannot tell our citizens that there is no gas."
"We need to receive gas from Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan," the Turkish energy minister noted adding that Turkey imports energy resources based on its needs.
According to earlier media reports, during a meeting in Washington on September 25 between US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan the American leader called on Turkey to stop buying Russian energy resources.
Bayraktar also stated that negotiations with Russia are also underway on the extension of the agreement on natural gas supplies to Turkey via the Blue Stream gas pipeline.
