Russia, China seal major gas deal, bypass US dollar
Iran Press TV
Wed May 21, 2014 12:56PM GMT
Russia has signed a major deal with China for the export of natural gas to the world's second largest economy.
The value of the deal has been estimated at around USD 400 billion for a period of 30 years.
The signing of the deal occurred during a visit to Shanghai by Russian President Vladimir Putin to take part in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
President Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, have signed multiple cooperation agreements in Shanghai. The two leaders signed 49 deals in the fields of energy, transport and infrastructure.
The deals enable the two countries to bypass the US dollar and pay each other in domestic currencies. This is expected to undercut the domination of the greenback as the international reserve currency.
Analysts also say the deals can give financial and diplomatic boost to Russia which is currently engaged in tensions with the West over the Ukraine crisis.
The US and the EU accuse Russia of destabilizing Ukraine and have slapped a number of sanctions against Russian and pro-Russia figures.
Russia, however, rejects the accusation, saying the pro-Russia protests in Ukraine began spontaneously against the new government in Kiev.
The Russian president and his Chinese counterpart will also oversee the start of joint naval exercises off Shanghai in the East China Sea.
Chinese government has recently accused the United States of emboldening some Asian nations in their territorial disputes with Beijing.
In recent years, Moscow and Beijing have sought to strengthen their ties to contain Washington.
JR/SS
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