Like I said, the last thing Russia wants is to be more dependent on China. Chin is eating Russia alive in so many facets. It is why Putin is willing to gamble everything to resecure Russia’s place in Europe. Is Russia an Eurasian Power? How is its presence in the East? Oh China is just literally taking East Russia slowly, probably at a faster pace than Russia is getting territory in Ukraine. And China has completely usurped Russia’s importance in Central Asia. Where is Russia’s presence in Europe? Just Kaliningrad? Putin wants to go West, because he has no shot in the East anymore. This war is existential for Russia and Putin is going to do whatever it takes to restake Russia’s claim in Europe. And Putin is about to execute his ultimate gambit to do so.
Reported in Russian media: China Asks Russia to Reduce Gas Price by 5 Times to Approve the "Power of Siberia – 2" Project
Vladimir Putin embarked on his 25th visit to China to once again persuade Xi Jinping to agree to the construction of the "Power of Siberia – 2" gas pipeline . Since the main stumbling block remains the issue of supply costs, "Gazprom" made a very advantageous offer on the gas price, a source close to the monopoly told Bloomberg. However, the Chinese side did not demonstrate readiness to advance the project.
According to him, Beijing still wants to buy gas at a price comparable to the level on the domestic Russian market. It is heavily subsidized and amounts to about $50 per thousand cubic meters. This is about 12 times lower than current European quotations and 5 times lower than the price China is currently paying — $258.