Vladimir Putin says ‘we are not threatening anybody’
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It comes as the two powers appear to be cosying up after striking a deal for a huge pipeline that will transit Russian gas into China. The Power of Siberia 2 project is set to become operational by 2030, and could deliver as much as 50 billion cubic metres of gas, bypassing Mongolia on the way. It will be operated by both Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned conglomerate, and China National Petroleum.
Geopolitical analyst Brandon Weichert told Express.co.uk that this partnership is yet another strategic tie that the two countries have drawn up that will strengthen their geopolitical aims.
He said: “We are already seeing a stunning amount of coordination between Moscow and Beijing as it relates to a variety of strategic issues.
“Beijing, for example, is looking closely at what Moscow does in Eastern Ukraine – and how the West responds to those Russian provocations – as a case example of how Beijing will behave toward Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, or India.
“It also shows that the more coordination that occurs between Beijing and Moscow the more likely these two powers will be able to push back unwanted American interference in their respective spheres of influence.”
It comes as both sides appear to be involved in escalating tensions with their neighbours.
For Russia, Mr Putin appears poised to invade Ukraine as 100,000 troops have descended onto the Russia-Ukraine border.
And China has been building up a military presence in the South China Sea and have repeatedly claimed that they should have rightful ownership of Taiwan, despite it being an independent state.
As military tensions soar with both, feuds with the West have been ensuing due to other reasons too.
Mr Putin has been conducting a gas squeeze over Europe in the hope to speed up the certification of Nord Stream 2.
Nord Stream 2 will transit gas from Russia into Germany, bypassing Poland and Ukraine.
But it has been hit with delays, and last week, Mr Putin diverted gas to the East from the Yamal-Europe pipeline.
The move has seen energy prices skyrocket to record highs, and once again this exposed Russia’s tight grip on the European energy market.
Mr Wiechert said that now that Russia and China are cosying up and strengthening each other’s geopolitical aims in a terrifying alliance.
He told Express.co.uk: “Look at how Russia is doing great damage to Europe with their gas policies and at the same time how China is punishing Lithuania and applying pressure on other European states that Beijing is having disagreements with.
“That China and Russia are now operating in tandem with one another indicates that any moves made by these two powers in the energy sector will have immense ramifications at the geopolitical level for all the world’s major powers.”
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He warned that this could see both sides become increasingly more powerful and may be a cause for concern for Washington.
Mr Wiechert told Express.co.uk: “Right now, it is in the interests of both China and Russia to cooperate together on a variety of issues in order to stunt and stymie their shared American rival’s ability to intercede in Eurasian affairs.”
But Mr Weichert did say that this is not inevitable, and the two sides may even be pitted against each other.
He told Express.co.uk: “As China makes stronger moves to become the dominant power in Central Asia, a place that Moscow views as its own sphere of influence, the greater chance there exists that relations between Moscow and Beijing deteriorate, leaving a great opening for the US to play the two Eurasian powers off each other.
But for now, Mr Weichert said the Biden administration should be very worried.
He said: “Washington policymakers should be very concerned by how the new Sino-Russian energy axis threatens the traditional balance of power in Eurasia and tilts the entire region away from the West and toward the Eurasian autocrats.”
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