Talks over Turkish Stream have not been renewed yet, but the project has the right to existence if Ankara is interested, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has pointed out.

Novak has asserted in a TV interview that Moscow is ready to deliver and increase the amounts of gas to the country and has added that Russia-Turkey cooperation has to continue.

His remarks come after more than a month of tensions between Ankara and Moscow caused by the Turkish Air Forces' move to down a Russian Su-24 fighter-bomber in November, claiming it had violated Turkish airspace.

Negotiations over Turkish Stream, a project announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin last December, had already been stalled before the incident, with the two countries failing to agree on gas pricing. The November developments, however, officially brought it to a halt, with the joint company set up earlier stopping work indefinitely.

Russia had announced it would only build part of Turkish Stream linking the two countries, whereas its initial plans included a bigger capacity (around 63 billion cubic meters) with most of it due to be transited from Turkey to Europe.

On Monday, however, Novak gave indications the idea has not been abandoned yet by saying infrastructure in Central and Southeast Europe is a key prerequisite for the construction.

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