Russian energy giants will accompany Putin during his visit to China

The heads of Russian energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft, Alexei Miller and Igor Sechin will join President Vladimir Putin's entourage during his visit to China next month.

Russia is strengthening its ties with Asia

Putin is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and take part in the Belt and Road Forum. The move is part of Russia's efforts to strengthen ties with Asia, particularly China, to compensate for reduced trade with Europe due to sanctions. Russia is seeking to conclude a deal to sell more natural gas to China and the construction of a gas pipeline The Power of Siberia-2. Sources say the delegation will also include other senior Russian energy officials.

Russia is strengthening its ties with Asia, especially economic powerhouse China, to offset reduced trade with Europe, its traditional oil and gas buyer, over Moscow's actions in Ukraine. Sino-Russian trade has increased since it began in February 2022, as Russia calls it "special military operation" in Ukraine. Russia has sold larger amounts of oil to Asian countries, including China, which it can no longer sell to the West due to economic sanctions.

Putin's first visit to Russia since the start of the war

Vladimir Putin last visited Beijing in February 2022, days before he sent tens of thousands of Russian troops to Ukraine. Putin and Xi will announce partnership "without limits", although Moscow claims that this does not mean a military alliance.

Russia wants to secure a deal to sell more natural gas to China and plans to build the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline, which would run through Mongolia and have an annual capacity of 50 billion cubic meters (bcm). This is compared to 3 billion m38, which the currently operating Power of Siberia power plant is expected to achieve by 3.

The proposed pipeline would deliver gas from fields on the Yamal Peninsula in western Siberia to China, which is the world's largest energy consumer and a growing gas recipient. China and Russia have not yet agreed on the terms of gas supplies via this route, including prices. The negotiations are complex, in part because China is not expected to need more gas until 2030. It is unclear whether any deals will be signed during Putin's visit to Beijing.