Russia soon to ratify TurkStream natural gas pipeline

By Hakan Ceyhan Aydogan

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian government will submit the agreement on the TurkStream project between Russia and Turkey to the Russian parliament for ratification, according to Leonid Slutksy, chairman of the State Duma Committee for International Affairs, on Friday.

"We will work on the project systematically after it is submitted to the State Duma," he said.

Sergey Jeleznyak, a member of the Duma (Russian parliament) International Relations Committee and deputy secretary general of the United Russia party, one of the parties in power in the muti-party government, said, "the ratification of the agreement almost in unison with the Turkish Grand National Assembly is an indication that Turkish politicians want to develop relations with Russia, and I think the Russian parliament will approve this agreement soon."

"Our party supports the reestablishment of economic ties and mutually beneficial relations with the Turkish people," Jeleznyak said.

The Turkish parliament ratified the deal on the construction of the natural gas pipeline dubbed the ‘TurkStream’ on Friday morning.

Writing by Murat Temizer in Ankara