Turkmenistan
Friday accused Russia
of interfering in its energy business by spreading false information, the latest
sign of flaring tensions between the neighbors.
In a strongly worded statement the Turkmen Foreign Ministry slammed Moscow for attempting to
spoil some of Ashgabat's ongoing projects.
The statement, which came just days after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
visited Turkmenistan on an official state visit, lashed out at reports in the Russian
press about Turkmenistan's ability to meet European energy demands.
"In recent days reports have appeared in the Russian press that give an
unreasonable interpretation of some aspects of energy policy in Turkmenistan, including those related to the implementation of projects on
the delivery of Turkmen energy resources to international markets," it
said.
"The statements... are regarded in Turkmenistan as an attempt to interfere with the normal course of international
cooperation between our countries in energy and cast doubt on its obligation to
its partners."
Relations between the two
countries began to sour following a pipeline explosion in early 2009 that saw
Turkmen exports to Russia--their
principal route to market--almost entirely severed.
Following the incident Turkmenistan, an isolated state that holds the world's fourth largest
reserves of natural gas, has sought to diversify its export routes away from
over reliance on Russia's
Soviet-era pipelines.