Ever since the “unfortunate” sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines by… somebody… last month, the energy situation in Europe hasn’t grown any less precarious. Winter is fast approaching and several European/NATO nations find themselves stuck between the options of accepting natural gas from Russia (which is a no-no under most sanctions) or freezing in the dark. But now a new option has been put on the table. Russia and Turkey have begun talks to establish a natural gas “hub” under Turkey’s control which could provide needed energy to NATO allies while not directly giving the money to Russia. Watching the international politics of this maneuver play out should prove highly interesting to anyone who has been paying attention to this ongoing drama. (Associated Press)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey and Russia have instructed their respective energy authorities to immediately begin technical studies on a Russian proposal that would turn Turkey into a gas hub for Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has floated the idea of exporting more gas through the TurkStream gas pipeline running beneath the Black Sea to Turkey after gas deliveries to Germany through the Baltic Sea’s Nord Stream pipeline were halted.

Erdogan said Russian and Turkish energy authorities would work together to designate the best location for a gas distribution center, adding that Turkey’s Thrace region, bordering Greece and Bulgaria appeared to be the best spot.

As we’ve been discussing here for years, Turkey has been cozying up to Russia to the point of having people discuss kicking them out of NATO. And that was going on before the invasion. Erdogan has been trying to play both sides against the middle in this complicated diplomatic spiderweb, but Turkey has obviously been edging closer and closer to being part of the new Axis of Evil.

This was aptly demonstrated when Turkey decided to purchase Russian S-400 missile defense systems. When the United States responded by cutting off their access to our F-35 Lightning fighter jets, Erdogan simply declared that he would order Russian jets instead. And now we have this development.

So how will NATO handle this proposal? It’s going to be awkward no matter how this plays out. Europe needs Russia’s natural gas, but nobody wants to admit it. We’re supposed to be punishing Russia, not further enhancing their profits (which seem to be holding up nicely despite all of the sanctions and economic warfare).

But Turkey is still technically an ally and a member of NATO. Nobody ever said that Europe couldn’t purchase natural gas from them, right? So the gas can be pumped to Europe, who will pay the money to Turkey. They will then pass the money to Putin after Erdogan skims his cut off of the top. Easy peasy, right? Is this a foreign policy discussion or an episode of The Sopranos?

Then we all just need to squint our eyes really tightly and pretend that everyone isn’t still simply buying Russian natural gas and paying a bit more for it so that Turkey can pocket a cut of the action. Yet the reality is that one of the primary fronts in the economic war against Russia will have essentially collapsed. But that’s okay as long as everyone gets to keep on virtue signaling and acting like we’re closer and closer to bringing Russia to its knees economically as an act of revenge against them for invading Ukraine.

But look on the bright side, sports fans. At least they’ll probably stop talking about Armageddon for a little while, right? And a few billion cubic litres of Russian gas flowing into Germany’s homes and businesses is still a lot better than mushroom clouds over Berlin, Paris, and New York City. Or at least we can hope so.