After European Union officials expressed concern about The rapprochement between Russia and TurkeyDeputy US Treasury Secretary Wali Adeemo confirmed that Moscow is trying to use Ankara to evade the sanctions imposed on it.
In his conversation with Deputy Finance Minister Yunus Illetas, Adeemo expressed his country’s fears that Russian entities and individuals could use Turkey to evade the sanctions imposed by the United States and 30 other countries.
He reiterated the United States’ interest in the success of the Turkish economy, expressing the Treasury Department’s commitment to its partnership with the Government of Ankara to protect the integrity of its banking sector.
Russian-Turkish rapprochement
These developments came after European Union officials expressed concern over the rapprochement between Russia and Turkey, warning that Turkey would turn into a trading platform for Moscow, according to the Financial Times.
The officials described Turkey’s behavior with Russia at this time as very opportunistic, stressing that the agreements on energy and food between Moscow and Ankara raise concerns.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to enhance cooperation in the fields of economy and energy, after a meeting held between them in Sochi, Russia, on the shores of the Black Sea.
In a statement, the Kremlin said the two leaders agreed to “strengthen trade exchanges” between the two countries and “realize common aspirations in the field of economy and energy.”
In their joint statement, the two presidents called for “concrete steps” to strengthen cooperation in the areas of transport, agriculture, industry, finance and tourism, according to AFP.
They also stressed Ankara’s role in transporting Russian gas to Europe through the TurkStream pipeline, and said, “European partners should be grateful to Turkey for ensuring the non-stop transport of Russian gas.”
Also, the two presidents agreed that Russian gas supplies to Turkey would be paid “partially in rubles,” according to the media, Alexander Novak, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, praising “a new stage and emerging opportunities.”
Open a new page
It is noteworthy that Russia has been seeking for months to impose its national currency in international transactions in the face of the euro and the dollar, in light of unprecedented Western economic sanctions affecting it due to the war on Ukraine.
Before the meeting, Erdogan had expressed his hope that his meeting with Putin would allow “to open a completely different page in relations” between the two countries.
He also affirmed his determination to make sure that the construction of a nuclear plant by the Russian Rosatom group in Akkuyu in southern Turkey will go according to the “set schedule”, while a dispute threatened to delay the implementation of this giant project.