Putin says TurkStream Gas Pipeline Could be Extended via Greece

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the TurkStream gas pipeline could be extended further into Europe via Greece, as he met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Moscow.

The first line of TurkStream, which runs from Russia to Turkey via the Black Sea bed, is intended for Turkish consumption only. Russia has said that a second line will also end in Turkey and Europe must choose the route and build the extension itself.

Several routes, including via Greece and Bulgaria, are under consideration.

"We are ready for implementation of large-scale infrastructure energy projects jointly with Greece. This is also about connecting southern Europe to TurkStream via Greece," Putin said at a joint briefing with Tsipras in Moscow.

Gazprom is building TurkStream to bypass Ukraine, the key route used to ship Russian gas to Europe, amid political tension.

Its two lines will each have a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic metres of gas per year, with the first due to be operational by the end of 2019. 

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Polya Ivanova; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)