President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed an agreement with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to build an undersea gas pipeline, which will allow Moscow to strengthen its position in the European gas market and cut energy supplies via Ukraine. The deal foresees construction of two pipelines on the bed of the Black Sea and each pipeline will have the capacity to carry some 15.75 billion cubic meters a year. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the natural gas pipeline project with Russia and plans for a Russian-built nuclear power plant in Turkey would be accelerated as ties between the two countries are normalized.
Relations between the two nations were plunged into crisis in November of last year after NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border. Russia responded at the time by imposing economic sanctions on Turkey. Following a previous meeting between the two Presidents on the 8th of August in Russia, Erdogan and Putin agreed to normalize relations.