Beijing attempts to emerge as senior partner in its partnership with Russia
Russia’s strategic dependence on China has only grown since the war. This year, trade between the two powers has soared to levels not seen since the beginning of Moscow's war in Ukraine, with Chinese imports of Russian oil offering Moscow a critical lifeline as international sanctions bite.
Bilateral trade reached a record 190 billion US dollars last year, according to Chinese customs data, and the two sides have pledged to reach 200 billion US dollars this year.
«Moscow will try to further deepen cooperation with Beijing and elicit more support from China, including lethal military aid, as it has hopes that Western support for Ukraine may be gradually faltering,» Bjorn Alexander Duben, an assistant professor at China's Jilin University, said. China has so far offered only «non-lethal» support to Moscow, but experts said Beijing could change tack.
«China doesn't want to see a significantly weakened Russia, and it might step up its efforts if it comes to realize that Moscow might lose,» Alicja Bachulska, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.
Beijing is trying to use its leverage in the partnership.
«The Chinese are very difficult negotiators,» Russian political scientist Konstantin Kalachev told AFP, adding he expected «no further breakthroughs» on contentious issues including a long-awaited gas pipeline.
Russian diplomatic experts said that the post-Soviet space is particularly important regarding China’s new foreign policy and economic paradigm. Over the past two years, Chinese exports to some of the members in the post Soviet space have doubled while the region’s trade with other countries has declined or stagnated.
In view of its inability to increase trade with the United
