AFP: Ukraine Crisis Accelerates Russia-China Energy Cooperation-

Russia aims to boost its economic ties with China, particularly in the energy sector, in the face of Western sanctions over Ukraine, but this could prove a high-risk strategy.

On Monday, far from the fighting in Ukraine and the threat of fresh Western sanctions, President Vladimir Putin launched what is hailed as "the biggest construction project in the world" in Eastern Siberia.

The 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) "Power of Siberia" pipeline will connect Yakutia's gas fields with the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and also with the Chinese border. From 2018, the Power of Siberia will for the first time allow Moscow to supply China with natural gas through a pipeline under a contract worth $400 billion (TL 864.2 billion) over 30 years.

Ending 10 years of difficult negotiations with Beijing, the signing of the contract in May was a major success for Putin, whose annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and support for other Ukrainian separatist movements have led to the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. At loggerheads with the West, Moscow is seeking to refocus its gas and oil exports from Europe -- its main energy market -- towards Asia and is diligently building an energy alliance with Beijing. The shift suits China, which needs additional energy supplies to cover its growing domestic consumption.

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