On 6 February President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
TASS reported that, according to Lavrov, “Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is satisfied with cooperation between Moscow and Ashgabat on the gas issue”.
“The oil and gas issues will be assigned to our representatives who are in charge of the intergovernmental commission on trade-economic cooperation.Its terms are being coordinated now.
During the conversation, Turkmenistan’s president expressed satisfaction with the way the gas issue is being treated in our dialogue now, with a focus on a search for new far-reaching major agreements,” the Russian foreign minister said.
According to Lavrov, in the course of negotiations Berdymukhmamedov welcomed the contacts with “Gazprom” (on resuming Turkmen gas imports)”.
The sides also discussed cooperation in the Caspian region.
“Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov paid special attention to this issue.In 2002 it was here, in Ashgabat, where high level meetings between the five Caspian states kicked off, and last year it ended with the signing of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.
At the same time, two documents on cooperation in economy and transportation, initiated by Turkmenistan’s President, were signed”, the Russian Foreign Minister emphasized.
It has remained unknown, though, whether the dual nationals issue was on the agenda.At the press conference held on 7 December 2018 to summarize the results of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council session in Italy, Lavrov said that Moscow “awaits Ashgabat’s decision”.
Let us recall that in the autumn of 2018 Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov met with “Gazprom” Chairperson Aleksey Miller. Based on the results of the meeting Miller voiced the intention to resume Turkmen gas imports from 1 January 2019 and emphasized that the agreement on the volumes and prices will be reached as soon as possible.
It became known on 13 November that “Turkmengas” and “Gazprom” are likely to conclude the settlement agreement pertaining to gas prices in the lawsuit filed to the Stockholm Court of Arbitration.