Moscow has not proposed to Athens to make advanced payment for the construction of a "Greek leg" of the so-called "TUrkish Stream" pipeline, the Kremlin says.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov refuted on Saturday the claims made by a Greek official and than cited by media outlets such as Der Spiegel weekly and the prominent magazine Forbes. "Putin said it himself at the press conference [with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras] that nobody has asked [Russia] for aid. But of course, the issue of energy cooperation was touched," RIA Novosti quotes him as saying.

According reports that circulated on Saturday, Greece could receive EUR 5 B next week in the form of "advanced payment", a sum which would virtually amount to timely aid for the debt-ridden country as it is seeking to avoid default.

Tsipras and Putin agreed last week to cooperate on Turkish Stream project, which was announced as an alternative to the abandoned South Stream pipeline project in December.

Russia says Turkish Stream will carry billions of cubic meters of gas to Turkey, and Europe could received supplies via a gas distribution center at the border with Turkey's neighbor Greece.  

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