Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a gala dinner ahead of the fourth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit, in Shanghai May 20, 2014.(Reuters / Aly Song)
How Putin Won Big in China -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg
Russian President Vladimir Putin has achieved what Western leaders feared: He has cut a big, long-term deal to supply natural gas to China, a pivot to the East that makes Russia much less vulnerable to whatever sanctions the West might impose.
The gas contract had been 10 years in preparation, mostly because the parties haggled relentlessly over the price. The parameters of the deal made public by Alexey Miller, chief executive officer of Russia's near-monopoly gas producer, Gazprom, suggest the final price will be roughly $10 per million British thermal units. That is less than Russia may have wished for, but about as much as it makes sense for China to pay. Data from Platts suggest that the weighted average price of gas from Myanmar, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan came to about $10.14 last year. This year, Gazprom expects to export its gas at the average price of $10.62 per million Btu, but traditional consumers in Europe are trying to bargain it down.
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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
Russia-China deal: Even energy pivots East -- Patrick L. Young, RT
Russia puts gas-hungry China in a bear hug -- Ethan Bilby, Reuters
Ukraine's three answers to Russia's fear campaign -- Christian Science Monitor editorial
After Ukraine Elections, Market Will Love Russia Again -- Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes
Moldova, a European Neighborhood Tragedy in the Making -- Jan Techau, AP
What on earth is the Xi administration afraid of? -- Asahi Shimbin editorial
Another reason to fear a Chinese housing crash: 14% of China’s urban jobs are in real estate -- Gwynn Guilford, Quartz
How far can Modi take India — and how fast? -- Ian Bremmer, Reuters
We must defend Thailand's fragile democracy – or civil war looms -- Mark Fenn, The Guardian
The Deadly Mission of Boko Haram -- Janine di Giovanni, Newsweek
A jail sentence for Egypt's Mubarak on corruption holds little sign of real change -- Dan Murphy, CSM
Colombian President Santos: 'Waging War Is More Popular than Negotiating' -- Interview Conducted By Juliane von Mittelstaedt and Helene Zuber, Spiegel Online
Here's the handy Twitter guide for telling if your country just had a coup -- Max Fisher, VOX
Obama Admin. Channels Cheney, Claims Unlimited War Powers -- Eli Lake, Daily Beast
Arrest of young Iranians in ‘Happy’ video reflects Iran’s complicated power structure -- Jason Rezaian, Washington Post
2 comments:
These two countries may be thinking along these lines: "Any moves we want to make geo-politically, we've got a 3 to 5 year window". Two more years with this administration, who they have no fear of and one to three years for another administration to regroup.
We are on the same wavelength James. I was only thinking yesterday that these countries are now in a mad rush to get what they want knowing that this White House administration will do nothing to stop them.
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