Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov rejected rumors that ties between Moscow and Ashgabat were deteriorating, saying the two states remained strategic partners.
Russia was Turkmenistan's largest gas buyer before the 2008 global financial crisis caused a decline in gas demand on global markets. At the moment, Russia is the country's third largest gas partner, behind Iran and Turkey.
Some experts say the current decrease in Russian-Turkmen gas trade may have a negative impact on economic and humanitarian cooperation between the two ex-Soviet states.
Berdymukhamedov said his country would seek to boost ties with Russia, "both in bilateral and CIS formats."
The leader of the energy-rich states, which holds the world's fourth-largest gas reserves, has repeatedly said that Russia remained one of his country's major economic and political partners.
Ashgabat, however, is looking to diversify exports from its traditional destination of Russia and may become one of the key gas suppliers to the EU-supported Nabucco project. In a bid to diversify its gas transit routes, the country also unveiled late last year a gas pipeline to run via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China, bypassing Russia.
ASHGABAT, December 12 (RIA Novosti)
