Xi Jinping and Putin Won’t Hold Bilateral Talks While Moscow and Beijing Clash Over Gas

Chinese President Xi Jinping will not hold a separate bilateral meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi.

Russian aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that no formal two-way contact between Putin and Xi is planned for the gathering, though he suggested the two leaders might still speak briefly in the corridors for a informal conversation, according to The Moscow Times on September 10.

The decision follows their previous encounter on August 31 in Bishkek during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which failed to achieve progress on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline project intended to deliver up to 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually to China.

Sources familiar with the negotiations indicate the two sides remain unable to agree on pricing. Beijing seeks a rate of around $50 per thousand cubic meters, matching domestic Russian prices, or $120 to $130, matching prices for Russian industrial consumers.

In contrast, Moscow proposes pricing based on the Power of Siberia 1 pipeline, which stands at roughly $250 to $260 per thousand cubic meters.

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Russia-China “Power of Siberia-2” Pipeline Talks Deadlock After a Decade

Jul 14, 2026 17:47

This proposed rate is approximately 40% lower than Gazprom’s prices for non-CIS international buyers, which hover around $420 per thousand cubic meters.

While public economic negotiations face bottlenecks, covert military-technical cooperation between Moscow and Beijing reportedly continues to deepen behind closed doors.

Bilateral documents from clandestine forums have previously exposed a reported joint strategic plan to disable the Starlink satellite network alongside a high-tech partnership to co-develop hypersonic missile defenses and autonomous AI-driven drones.

This illustrates a highly transactional exchange of Russian frontline combat data for advanced Chinese electronics.

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