Bloomberg reports that Turkey is in talks with the US to lift restrictions on its cooperation with Gazprombank so that the country can continue using the Russian bank to pay for gas imports.
Turkey's Energy Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, publicly announced that Ankara could not pay Russia without sanctions relief. Bayraktar mentioned the previous sanctions related to Iran as precedent.
"If we can't pay, we won't be able to buy goods. If there are no exceptions, it can become a big problem for Turkey," he said.
Russia is Turkey's largest gas supplier. Last year, it accounted for about 42% of imports. On November 21, Gazprombank came under US sanctions, through which gas payments are made in rubles.
