Putin against Blue Stream II being extended to Israel

During his recent visit to Istanbul Russian PM Putin stated that the gas pipeline Blue Stream II will not be extended to Israel. He explained that serious natural gas resources have already been discovered in Israel and therefore the extension of Blue Stream in that direction is economically unviable. The Turkish side however, and some other commentators, understand Putin’s decision as support for Turkey in its current confrontation with Israel.

It is clear that Putin wants to frustrate the establishment of the NABUCCO project as much as possible by giving extra benefits to Turkey, which is a key player in many different gas transit projects.