The East Med pipeline will proceed regardless of Turkey's objections, Greece's Energy and Environment Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said Saturday in statements to SKAI TV.

"We are determined to proceed on the basis of international law," he said.

At the same time, ministry sources have neither confirmed nor rejected reports that Greece, Cyprus, Israel and Italy will sign a deal early next year to promote the gas pipeline.

The sources did confirm that the aforementioned countries are committed to the implementation of the project and referred to Hatzidakis' meeting with his Israeli counterpart Yuval Steinitz in Madrid, on the sidelines of UN meeting on the climate, during which both sides reiterated their support of East Med as well as for the electric interconnection from Crete to Israel via Cyprus.

At the same meeting, Hatzidakis had thanked Israel for its support over the recently signed memorandum of understanding between Turkey and the government of Tripoli.