Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up BELGRADE, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he did not believe the West’s “provocative” policies towards Russia were right after the European Union and Group of Seven nations proposed a price ceiling on Russian natural gas. President Vladimir Putin had earlier threatened to halt all supplies if the EU took such a step, raising the risk of a dividend in some of the world’s richest countries this winter. Erdogan was speaking at a press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up “I don’t need to list the names, but I can clearly say that I don’t find the attitude adopted by the West correct,” Erdogan said, speaking at a press conference in Belgrade. “Because there is a West that leads a policy based on provocation, it will not be possible to achieve a result there,” he said, adding that other countries should not underestimate Russia. Vucic said Serbia has asked Turkey to allow it to import electricity from Azerbaijan which he estimated at about 2 gigawatt hours (GWH). On August 22, Vucic and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev agreed on energy imports from Belgrade on unspecified terms. The Balkan country generates about 70% of its electricity needs in coal-fired power plants. “I asked him (Erdogan) to help us and allocate space … for the transfer of Azeri electricity,” he said. Serbia is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas, but wants to diversify supplies and plans to start importing gas from Azerbaijan in 2023. Read more Vucic said the coming winter in Europe could prove to be “very cold” because of an energy crisis stemming from the war in Ukraine. Although Belgrade condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it refused to impose sanctions on Moscow. “If someone really thinks about defeating Russia militarily (in Ukraine), then we should prepare not only for a cold winter, but also for a polar winter,” Vucic said. Serbia also plans to buy armed Bayraktar drones from Turkey from 2023, Vucic said, adding that it would invest hundreds of millions of euros in the deal. He did not provide further details. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade. Written by Daren Butler. Edited by Ali Kucukgocmen and Hugh Lawson Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
