Europe is increasingly relying on Russian gas supplies and some countries are willing to ignore EU sanctions to work on their own projects , writes Dimitar Bechev in Foreign Policy . Russian gas shipments to Europe and Turkey reached a record high of 201.8 billion cubic metres in 2018 . Russia could use the TurkStream project with Turkey to increase its influence in Eastern Europe , according to Bechev , while Turkey is backing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia . And unless they play their cards well, they will be expending scarce resources on mammoth ventures with doubtful profitability for everyone except Russia. TurkStream comes amid increasing tensions between Turkey and the west . Russian president Vladimir Putin has also been seeking new strategic alliances in the Balkans .
Europe is increasingly relying on Russian gas supplies and some countries are willing to ignore EU sanctions to work on their own projects , writes Dimitar Bechev in Foreign Policy . Russian gas shipments to Europe and Turkey reached a record high of 201.8 billion cubic metres in 2018 . Russia could use the TurkStream project with Turkey to increase its influence in Eastern Europe , according to Bechev , while Turkey is backing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia . TurkStream comes amid increasing tensions between Turkey and the west . Russian president Vladimir Putin has also been seeking new strategic alliances in the Balkans .