The disagreement of the United States with the agreement announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the creation of a gas hub in cooperation with Russia is expressed in the State Department.

As U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel emphasized, we, like the United States, “call on our allies to take steps to diversify their energy sources and reduce their energy dependence on Russia. Particularly in the case of Turkey, we are working closely with it to help its own efforts to strengthen long-term energy security.”

In continuation, the representative of the State Department touched upon Turkey and the issue of imposing sanctions. “We have worked closely with our allies and partners to impose serious and unprecedented costs on Russia, including through sanctions, export controls and visa restrictions. We have explained to Turkey and all our allies and partners that no one should become a safe haven for illegal Russian assets or transactions, and we will continue to do so,” said Vedant Patel.

This week, US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Elizabeth Rosenberg, who is in charge of issues related to financial crime and terrorist financing, visited Turkey. During her three-day stay in the neighboring country, Ms. Rosenberg held contacts with her counterparts from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey.

According to the US side, “these meetings have confirmed the importance of close cooperation between the US and Turkey to address the risks associated with sanctions evasion and other illegal financial activities.”

Source: RES-IPE