Kremlin: Progress Made But No Deal on Russia-China Gas Pipeline

Russia and China did not reach an agreement on the planned multibillion-dollar Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline during talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the Kremlin told Russian state media on Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two sides had made progress and reached a “basic understanding” on key parts of the project, including the pipeline route and how it would be built. However, he said no clear timeline had been agreed and that further details still needed to be resolved. “There are still some details to be worked out,” Peskov said.

The talks took place as Moscow continues to push for the long-delayed pipeline, which would help Russia redirect gas supplies toward China after its exports to Europe plunged following the war in Ukraine. The Power of Siberia 2 project was not included in the Kremlin’s long list of agreements published on its website after the Putin-Xi talks.

The planned pipeline would carry 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually to China. For Russia, the project is strategically important because the supplies would come from fields that previously served Europe, where exports have dropped sharply since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The planned route would run 2,600 kilometers from the Yamal Peninsula in northern Siberia through Mongolia into China.

Moscow has sought progress on the project for years, but talks have moved slowly. Peskov said the two countries had reached a general understanding on the route and construction process, but the full terms to move forward needed to be discussed. The absence of the pipeline from the Kremlin’s published agreements indicated that the project had not yet reached the level of a finalized deal.

Russia has become increasingly economically reliant on China since the start of the Ukraine war, and the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline has become one of Moscow’s major energy priorities. China, however, has shown less enthusiasm for the project, and Beijing’s hesitation has slowed progress.

Russia had hoped that energy instability triggered by the Middle East war would shift China’s position and increase Beijing’s interest in securing additional pipeline gas supplies. Despite that, the latest talks did not produce an agreement.

Peskov’s comments indicated that Moscow and Beijing had narrowed some differences but still had not settled the remaining details or agreed on when the project would move ahead. The pipeline remains a key proposed route for Russia to send gas from Siberian fields to China as Moscow looks for alternative markets after losing much of its European gas business. (AFP)