Turkey has received an exemption for gas payments to Russia after the United States imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Friday in response to a question from Reuters.

Turkey is exploring several alternatives to process gas payments to Russia following Washington's sanctions on Gazprombank last month, including taking loans from Russian banks and settling payments through expenditures related to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.

Turkey and Hungary said they have received exemptions for gas payments to Russia after the United States imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, removing a major hurdle to the gas trade with Moscow.

The US government has issued a waiver allowing Turkey to make gas payments to the Russian-owned Gazprombank, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told Middle East Eye on Friday. Last month, the US Treasury said Gazprombank and its six foreign subsidiaries were subject to sanctions due to their involvement in the Ukraine war.

Türkiye says the US has granted Ankara an exception to sanctions against Gazprombank. This will allow the country to pay for Russian natural gas imports without violating international restrictions, Bloomberg reports.

The exemptions allow both countries to continue paying for Russian gas supplies through the sanctioned bank. According to the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, Ankara has held a “series of talks” with U.

The United States has exempted Turkey from sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank so that it can continue to pay for gas imports, the Turkish energy minister told Bloomberg. Washington sanctioned dozens of Russian banks in November,