Turkmen Pipeline Deal Seen Thursday

Russia secured a deal to start construction of a new natural gas pipeline linking it to the Caspian Sea countries of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and visiting Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko agreed to sign a three-way agreement with Kazakhstan on Thursday in Moscow, the Turkmen government said.

President Vladimir Putin later spoke by telephone with Berdymukhammedov and the leaders "expressed satisfaction'' with progress on the Caspian project, the Kremlin press service said.

The agreement comes after Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov failed to reach a deal on starting construction of the pipeline during a visit to Turkmenistan in November.