Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged the European Union to support the idea of a Moscow-backed pipeline that would bring natural gas across the Black Sea to Turkey and the rest of Europe.
Speaking in Belgrade on May 15, Lavrov said the pipeline — which could include Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary — would bring "energy stability" to Europe.
Greece's left-wing government has expressed interest in the project, dubbed Turkish Stream. The United States, however, has been encouraging the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, which will take Azeri gas from the Caspian Sea to Italy.
Russia last year scrapped plans for another pipeline for Southern Europe amid a deepening crisis with the West over Ukraine.
Lavrov says that if the EU seeks energy security, "then Brussels must ... contribute to turning this idea into reality."