The key facts
- Turkey's Energy Minister Bayraktar explained the reduction in Russian gas purchases by price, not politics
- In 2025, LNG supplies from the US reached 9.19 billion cubic meters — almost 16% of Turkey's gas imports
- A complete abandonment of Russian gas is not planned: it is delivered via Blue Stream and TurkStream
The minister attributed the reduction in purchases to price
Turkey may continue reducing its purchases of Russian gas in favor of cheaper supplies from the United States and other countries. This was stated by the country's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar at a meeting with journalists in Istanbul, as reported by Life.ru citing Türkiye Today. According to him, the decision is purely economic rather than political: “The reason we buy less gas from Russia and more from the US is very simple: it is not about politics, it is about price. Russian gas is extremely expensive.” Among the alternatives, the minister named purchases of liquefied natural gas, expanding cooperation with other suppliers, and the use of other energy sources.
Ankara is not abandoning cooperation with Moscow
Turkey does not intend to completely end its energy cooperation with Russia: the minister acknowledged that the country still needs Russian gas. It remains one of the main fuel suppliers, with gas delivered via the Blue Stream and TurkStream pipelines. At the same time, Turkey is developing infrastructure for receiving LNG: in 2025, the volume of American supplies reached 9.19 billion cubic meters, accounting for almost 16% of Turkey's gas imports. Thus, the confirmed change concerns the structure of imports rather than a break in supplies — the US share is growing, but Russian gas retains a significant role.
Context: the dispute over purchases of Russian fuel in Europe
The Turkish minister's statement came amid a debate over Western countries' purchases of Russian fuel. As Life.ru notes, earlier NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reminded European politicians of their large-scale purchases of Russian gas when they expressed outrage over Donald Trump's fuel deal with Moscow: according to him, the Russia-US agreement on diesel supplies caused panic in Europe, even though the European Union itself continues to buy Russian LNG in volumes significantly exceeding the scale of the American deal. This remark illustrates the broader backdrop against which Ankara is openly shifting its purchases to price-based criteria, without hiding its reasons.
