Russia and China Advance Power of Siberia 2 Pipeline Deal

Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom says it has reached an agreement to build a major new gas pipeline to China, though key details remain unresolved.

The project, known as Power of Siberia 2, is designed to transport natural gas from reserves in western Siberia through Mongolia to China. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller described the agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation as a “legally binding” memorandum, framing it as both an economic opportunity and a symbol of deepening Moscow-Beijing ties amid tensions with the United States.

Stretching an estimated 6,700 kilometres from the Yamal Peninsula, past Lake Baikal, and into northern China, the pipeline would tap the same gas fields that for decades supplied Europe. Those lucrative exports have sharply declined since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow cutting most deliveries and the European Union planning to end remaining imports by 2027.

While the new route could help redirect some of that lost business to a major customer, it would not fully replace the revenue once earned from Europe’s far larger market. Still, for Russia, the deal represents a strategic pivot eastward and for China, a potential boost to its long-term energy security.