Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoganANKARA, Jan 18 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that The United States realized that the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Pipeline (EastMed) project would not give anything, according to him, it was «financially insolvent.» offshore pipeline from Israel to Europe.Erdogan appreciated Russia's role in Turkey's gas stabilityErdogan stressed that it is impossible to implement such projects in the Eastern Mediterranean without Turkey's participation. during a visit to Albania. According to a non-official document published by a number of Greek politicians and the media, the American side, which during the presidency of Donald Trump supported EastMed, has now changed its mind and froze its construction. The justification was environmental reasons, financial insolvency and the fact that this pipeline will create tension in the region, since Turkey does not agree with it. An informal document non paper was sent to three project participants — Greece, Cyprus and Israel, as well as Turkey. A U.S. embassy official in Athens later said the U.S. had «shifted focus» to electrical interconnectors that could support both gas and renewables, and was considering a planned project to lay the EuroAfrica electrical cable from Egypt to Crete and then to the Greek mainland. as well as the EuroAsia Electric Cable project, which will link Israel, Cyprus and the European power grid. What Turkey is seeking in Cyprus The Eastern Mediterranean Gas Pipeline is conceived to supply gas from the Israeli Leviathan field and the Cypriot Aphrodite field to continental Europe. East Med can connect Greece, Cyprus and Israel with the south of Europe, its planned length is 1.9 thousand kilometers, investments in construction are estimated at 6 billion euros. The design capacity is 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually, subsequently it can be increased to 20 billion cubic meters per year. An interstate agreement on the construction of the EastMed gas pipeline was signed on January 2, 2020 by Greece, Israel, and Cyprus. Italy was going to join the project. The US actively supported the project as leading to a reduction in the EU's dependence on Russian gas and a reduction in Russia's presence in the wider region.
