Putin makes fifth attempt to convince Xi on major gas pipeline
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin (photo: Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his visit to Beijing, will again try to convince Chinese leader Xi Jinping to support the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline. This is already the fifth attempt by the Kremlin to push the project over the past four years, Bloomberg reports.
According to people close to the government, Russia hopes that turmoil on energy markets caused by the conflict in the Middle East will force China to show greater flexibility in negotiations over the gas pricing contract for the planned Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline project.
One Russian official said the Chinese side expressed interest in accelerating negotiations, although no significant progress has yet been achieved.
According to Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, the issue of the pipeline "is on the agenda."
"We committed to discussing it seriously. I believe this topic will be discussed in great detail between the leaders," he said.
However, Bloomberg emphasizes that progress on any agreement depends on Xi, and so far, there are no signs that Russia can easily reach a deal.
"With its economy under growing strain, Russia is heavily reliant on trade with China to weaken the impact of Western sanctions over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that's in its fifth year. US President Donald Trump's war with Iran may give Moscow an opportunity to rebalance the relationship as Beijing looks for greater energy security amid disruption caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz," the article says.
According to a source close to Russian state energy giant Gazprom, the company made a very favorable offer on gas prices for the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which will run from Siberia to China through Mongolia, although Chinese partners have shown no desire to advance the project. An agency source added that Russia wants to agree on the gas price by September.
In March, after the start of the war in Iran, China said it intends to make progress on the construction of the Russian gas pipeline as part of its five-year plan.
At the end of April, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and China National Petroleum Corporation Chairman Dai Houliang met in Beijing and discussed "development of strategic partnership."
On May 9, Putin said that "virtually all the key issues" regarding cooperation in the gas and oil sector had been agreed with China.
"If we manage to finalize them and bring the process to a final point during the visit, I would be very pleased," he said.
Route of Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline (photo: Bloomberg)
And although transport corridors through Russia have long been on the agenda of bilateral negotiations, according to agency sources, Moscow now sees greater interest from Chinese officials in expanding transit routes by land and through the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic.
The war in Iran also influenced this in particular.
According to Ushakov, Putin and Xi are expected to hold talks on Wednesday, and in the evening, they will drink tea together to continue discussions.
What is known about Putin's visit to China
Earlier, the media reported that the Russian leader plans to visit China on May 20. Kremlin describes the visit as part of routine contacts between Moscow and Beijing. Putin will stay in China for only one day.
The meeting will take place shortly after talks between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.
For the Chinese leader, this is already the second time this year that he has held diplomatic contacts with Trump and Putin almost back-to-back.
In particular, at the beginning of February, Xi held separate phone calls with the US president and the Kremlin leader just a few hours apart.
