Chinese President Xi Jinping is on an official visit to Russia; Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to strengthen military ties with Russia; Russia and China sign an agreement on expanding trade in crude oil; President Putin sets a target of achieving trad
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print
  • In a significant development, Chinese President Xi Jinping is on an official visit to Russia from 22-24 March, 2014. 1 Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to strengthen military ties with Russia. As part of his official visit to Moscow, President Jinping met the Russian military leadership in the Russian Armed Forces' Operational Command Center, thereby becoming the first foreign leader ever to be allowed inside the “heart” of Russian military establishment. 2

    Russia and China have signed an intergovernmental agreement on expanding cooperation in the field of crude oil. Although the deal is yet to be finalized, it is envisaged that Rosneft will receive a US$ 2 billion loan from the China Development Bank in return for 25 years of oil deliveries. They have also signed an agreement on construction of an oil refining and petrochemical plant in the Tianjin metropolitan area. 3

    In another development, President Putin has set a target of achieving trade turnover of US$ 100 billion with China by the year 2015. Trade in 2012 was close to US$ 90 billion and mutual direct investments stood at US$ 5.5 billion. He has also declared 2014-2015 to be a year of youth exchanges between Russia and China. 4

    According to reports, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yang have signed nine economic agreements in Moscow which include sectors like banking, coal, financial cooperation, investment, insurance, energy and rabbit husbandry. 5

    Reports noted that Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation have signed a tentative agreement on the annual supply of 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas deal to China. The deal is expected to be finalized by the end of this year with supplies starting from 2018 and export volumes expected to eventually rise to 60 billion cubic meters per year. The two sides have agreed that the priority direction of gas supplies from Russia to China is the 'eastern' route of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. The first section of the Power of Siberia pipeline is due to come on-stream in late 2017. 6

    Russia and the European Union (as part of a meeting between Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso) have agreed on a roadmap for energy cooperation till 2050. The parties also agreed on the coordination of emergency situations response and consumers rights. 7

    According to reports, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree to extend the U.S.-Russia agreement on cooperation in the use and exploration of outer space till 2020. It will help promote effective implementation of Russia’s space programmes as well as joint U.S.-Russian space projects, including exploration of the Moon and Mars. The agreement between NASA and the Russian Space Agency was originally signed in 1992 and later extended in 1997, 2002 and 2007. 8

    Prime Minister Medvedev has called upon the European Union to revise certain provisions of Third Energy Package and observed that Russia is not the exclusive energy provider to the EU since it supplies only about 30 per cent of Europe’s energy requirement. 9

    The first underwater supersonic BrahMos missile has been successfully tested in India. Russia and India will jointly develop this BrahMos-2 hypersonic missile and have decided to create a working group in charge of the development and production of the missiles. 10

    In other developments, Prime Minister Medvedev has said that Ukraine cannot become a member of the Customs Union under the 3+1 formula. Only those states which have passed and ratified all documents of the Customs Union and the Economic Union can become a member it and the future Eurasian Economic Union. 11

    Russia has refused to alter its stand on missile defence in the backdrop of US announcement that it was ready to abandon the final phase of its European missile defence system. Russia has announced that there have been no visible concessions and its concerns still remain. 12

    Prime Minister Medvedev has criticised the EU financial plan of rescuing the Cyprus economy and termed it ‘completely absurd, unpredictable and inconsistent’. 13

    Top