Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has maintained that Russia is as reliable a partner for his country as the West, citing, among other things, how the European Union has given Ankara the cold shoulder over its membership aspirations for decades.

In an interview with PBS on Monday, anchor Amna Nawaz questioned Erdogan if he trusted Russia's vow earlier this month to supply one million metric tons of food to Africa via Turkey. Following Moscow's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Deal in July, the supply is designed to assist lower prices in impoverished countries.

The Turkish president said that he had "no reason not to trust them," and that "to the extent that the West is reliable, Russia is equally reliable."

"We have been waiting at the doorstep of the EU for the last 50 years, and at this point in time, I trust Russia just as much as I trust the West," Erdogan added.

The Turkish president went on to say that "half of my natural gas supplies are coming from Russia, which means we have solidarity." Ankara and Moscow, according to the official, "are cooperating in the field of defense industry as well."

President Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, met in early September in the resort city of Sochi to discuss additional cooperation in the nuclear energy industry. With Rosatom specialists now constructing the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey, the Turkish president advocated for the construction of another such facility in the Turkish Black Sea city of Sinop.

"We are developing bilateral relations based on the principles of neighborliness, friendship, and sincerity, aiming to serve the interests of our countries and our region," Erdogan stated at the time.

During a press conference following his return from the meetings, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Ankara and Moscow were also working on schemes to supply Russian energy to global markets via Türkiye.

Russia had previously proposed establishing a gas hub in Turkey, which would allow Russian fuel to reach southern Europe while potentially spawning more infrastructure.