Brussels is closely monitoring the deepening of Russian-Turkish relations.
Strengthening cooperation with Russia may result in sanctions for Turkey from the countries of the European Union – Brussels is closely monitoring the development of Russian-Turkish relations, writes the Financial Times.
Six Western officials told the publication that the EU is worried about the Sochi agreements of the presidents
strong> Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia Vladimir Putin to expand cooperation in the fields of trade and energy.
Another interlocutor suggested that Western countries would urge their companies to leave from the Turkish market, if Erdogan goes to the implementation of these agreements.
Discussions of sanctions against Turkey in the EU have not yet started, because it is not known exactly what Putin and Erdogan agreed on. In addition, it will be difficult to make a decision at the EU level.
However, individual EU countries can introduce personal “restrictions on trade and finance or ask large financial companies to reduce investments in Turkish companies”.
However such steps will conflict with the commercial interests of Western companies. In addition, Turkey still threatens to block the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO.
Read also: The West must abandon the policy of “double standards” in relations with authoritarian regimes – The Economist
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Let us remind you that before the negotiations in Sochi, the Russian side offered to help the Turkish side bypass Western sanctions, in particular, using Turkish oil companies and free economic zones. In addition, Turkey agreed to pay for Russian gas in rubles.
