Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said Thursday that preparatory work on the planned TurkStream pipeline project had been cancelled over the downing of a Russian fighter jet by the Turkish air force.

Russia cancels TurkStream

MOSCOW, December 3, 2015 – Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said Thursday that preparatory work on the planned TurkStream pipeline project had been cancelled over the downing of a Russian fighter jet by the Turkish air force.

The construction stage of the pipeline’s offshore section had begun in May 2015, according to Russian state-owned company Gazprom. Gazprom announced the pipeline’s design capacity as 32 bcm (1.12 tcf), half of the initially planned 64 bcm (2.24 tcf).

Turkey is a major buyer of Russian gas, with 27.4 bcm (967 bcf) imported from Gazprom in 2014.

TurkStream was planned to cross the Black Sea and supply Turkey with natural gas and then pass on to markets in Europe when completed in 2020, circumventing Ukraine. Previous Russian pipeline projects through Ukraine had been rejected by the European Commission due to possible supply disruptions.

Gazprom head Alexei Miller told journalists earlier Thursday that Turkey would have to formally ask Russia to resume TurkStream talks.

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