Bloomberg journalists believe Beijing is anxiously watching the diversification of energy sources, ensuring that the country does not repeat Europe’s mistakes of being overly dependent on Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to increase the volume of Russian gas purchases to Chinese President Xi Jinping. But Bloomberg writes that the Chinese leader does not accept this.
Journalists believe that Xi Jinping has given neither “explicit consent” nor “hint” for the construction and operation of the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline, which should connect Russian gas fields to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in western China.
Bloomberg writes that China watches with concern the diversification of its energy sources, ensuring that the country does not repeat Europe’s mistakes of being overly dependent on Russia.
At the same time, according to a senior analyst at the Energy Policy Research Foundation, Inc. Batta Odgerela, China’s position could change if the Russian Federation makes a particularly advantageous offer.
“There is no need for additional gas from Russia, especially after the economic downturn caused by the quarantine,” the expert said.
Negotiations between Putin and Xi Jinping: what has Moscow achieved?
Analysts at the American Institute for War Studies (ISW) said in a report dated March 21 that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not get what he wanted in negotiations with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and suffered a “failure”.
Thereupon, the Chinese leader stayed in Moscow from March 20-22 and met with Vladimir Putin. They held several talks on strengthening relations between the countries, but the issue of the war in Ukraine was also not overlooked.
According to analysts, the head of the Kremlin did not achieve the desired result and could not agree on terms of bilateral partnership that would be beneficial for him.
The commitments made by Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were markedly disproportionate, suggesting that Xi accepted a more restrained version of Russia-China relations than Putin likely expected.
Recall that the US government also reacted to the meeting between Putin and Xi Jinping. So on March 21, the White House said that both sides want the world to run by their own rules, but such relations cannot be called alliances.
Meanwhile, in Beijing, they evaluated the negotiations with Putin in their own way. President Xi Jinping, in his meeting with the Kremlin leader, emphasized that he sees the end of the war in Ukraine only through peaceful negotiations.
Source: Focus
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