Kremlin: Turkey is a sovereign partner in energy and Trump prefers neutrality in the Ukraine war

The spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed today, Friday, that Turkey is a sovereign state that chooses its areas of cooperation with Russia, noting that the natural gas pipelines "Turkish Stream" and "Blue Stream" are operating at full capacity, amid ongoing economic cooperation between the two countries.  

This came during a press conference held in Moscow, where he addressed the statements of U.S. President Donald Trump regarding Russian energy resources, which he made following his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Washington.  

Peskov emphasized that Turkey has strategic infrastructure in the gas sector, through pipelines that pass from the Black Sea and Anatolia, feeding local and European markets, confirming that Ankara will continue to trade in goods it finds beneficial.  

In this context, Trump pointed to the wide respect Erdoğan enjoys from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, considering that Turkey's neutrality in the Ukrainian war gives it the ability to influence, but he advised against buying oil and gas from Russia if it wanted to intervene.  

For his part, Peskov responded to Zelensky's statements in which he called on Kremlin officials to "seek refuge" if Russia does not end the war, saying that the Ukrainian president is trying to please his supporters, while the ground realities indicate a diminishing negotiating position for Kyiv day by day.