During the negotiations in the Chinese capital, Moscow and Beijing failed to reach an agreement on the multibillion-dollar project for the construction of a new gas pipeline. The Kremlin acknowledged that several details still need to be agreed upon.
Russia and China, during the negotiations between President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, did not reach an agreement on the multibillion-dollar project for the construction of the new gas pipeline "Power of Siberia - 2," the Kremlin reported to Russian state media on Wednesday, May 20.
Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that the parties "generally reached an understanding on the main parameters," including the route and construction order, but there are no clear deadlines and a number of details still need to be worked out. In the long list of agreements published on the Kremlin's website following the negotiations, the project is not mentioned at all.
Strategic Importance of the Project
Russia has been promoting the "Power of Siberia - 2" project for several years, especially since it has become increasingly dependent on China economically following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The pipeline, with a capacity of 50 billion cubic meters per year, is expected to stretch 2,600 kilometers from the Yamal Peninsula in Western Siberia through Mongolia to China. It is fundamentally important for Moscow that supplies are planned to be sourced from fields that previously provided exports to Europe, which have sharply decreased since the start of the war.
Meanwhile, China has shown a restrained interest in the project - Moscow hoped that the energy instability caused by the war in the Middle East would change Beijing's position, but this did not happen. Progress in negotiations remains slow amid fluctuations from the Chinese side.
About 40 Documents Signed
After the open part of the negotiations in Beijing, Russia and China signed around 40 documents, including those on further strengthening comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction and on deepening relations of good neighborliness, friendship, and cooperation.
According to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, this is a rather substantial program document that outlines the main pathways for the development of the entire complex of multifaceted bilateral relations between Russia and China, a common vision of pressing issues on the international agenda, and the main formats of interaction in global affairs. Earlier, Ushakov described this document as conceptual in a conversation with journalists.
The negotiations in Beijing, Ushakov summarized, generally went "positively." He noted that Russia and China agreed on "very important" matters in energy but did not specify what exactly.
Joint Military Exercises
At the meeting in Beijing, Putin and Xi Jinping also agreed to expand the practice of joint military exercises. Russia and China will "jointly respond to various challenges and threats, as well as support global and regional security and stability," Interfax reported.
"The parties will continue to strengthen the traditional friendship between the armed forces of the two countries, deepen mutual trust in the military sphere, improve cooperation mechanisms, expand the practice of joint exercises, air and naval patrols, and strengthen coordination and interaction in bilateral and multilateral formats," the joint statement following the Russia-China summit in Beijing said.
Leave a comment