Russia insists on passing the pipeline through Mongolia, but it still wants China to pay for it, and

Mondo Military Updated on 2024-01-29

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, there has been a significant increase in cooperation between China and Russia in mineral resources, most notably in natural gas. According to statistics, the volume of natural gas deliveries between China and Russia has increased on the basis of last year50 timesAbove. This shows that China's demand for natural gas is very large, even more than all the countries in Europe combined. And for Russia, it is more convenient and advantageous to cooperate with such a huge market as China than to cooperate with various European countries in a decentralized manner. Therefore, both China and Russia are willing to strengthen natural gas cooperation and build more natural gas pipelines.

At present, China and Russia are discussing plans for the construction of a second gas pipeline, which is named ".Power of Siberia II”。The purpose of this pipeline is to deliver more natural gas to China, but the Russian side wants to pass through Mongolia to promote friendship and cooperation between China, Russia and Mongolia. Although Japan understands the Russian side's thinking, it also has its own concerns.

After all, the gas pipeline is a big deal, and it is related to China's energy security. If you go directly from Russia to China, you can avoid some unnecessary risks. And if you pass through Mongolia, there is an additional element of uncertainty. The annual delivery capacity of the Power of Siberia 2 is as high as:50 billion cubic metersFor China, this is a very important natural gas lifeline, and if anything goes wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable.

In order to protect its own interests, China put forward two conditions when negotiating with the Russian side, and its attitude was very resolute.

The first condition is that the Russian side must bear the entire construction cost of the gas pipeline before the start of construction. Since the Russian side insists on building a pipeline from Mongolia to China, it cannot let the Chinese side share the cost of building the pipeline. This is the responsibility that the Russian side should bear. For the Chinese side, this can ensure that its own funds will not be at risk, and the risks of the plan proposed by the Russian side should also be borne by the Russian side itself. This is a reasonable request.

The second condition is that the Russian side must reduce the amount of natural gas exported to China next year**. Although this condition is not directly related to the route of the pipeline, it is a normal business negotiation as a buyer's market. Cooperation between countries should not only be based on feelings, but also on the basis of interests. The scale of Sino-Russian cooperation is very large, and each order is at the level of 10 billion cubic meters, and if the Russian side can reduce it a little, we will be able to save a lot of money.

At the moment, Russia is in the quagmire of war, and without the support of China, it will be difficult for Russia's economy to recover. The Russian side is also aware of the importance of the Chinese market, but considering the current economic situation of the Russian side, if it builds the pipeline independently, it may cause economic collapse, and if the pipeline has some unsolvable problems in Mongolia, the Russian side may face the risk of project failure.

Therefore, we suggest that the Russian side can take a step back, listen more to China's opinion, and as long as the Russian side no longer insists on passing through Mongolia, we will bear the construction costs of the pipeline together with the Russian side. In this way, both China and Russia will benefit, and natural gas cooperation will be smoother and more stable.

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