Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country will prioritize China over Japan as the recipient of oil supplies from a pipeline project linking eastern Siberia with the Russian Far East, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported yesterday.
Putin made the remarks during a news conference after the three-day summit of the Group of Eight powers in Gleneagles, Scotland.
Both Japan and China have tried to convince Russia to favor it in planning the pipeline’s route. Russia had at one point last year agreed to build a 4180-km pipeline from Taishet near Lake Baikal to Nakhodka on Russia’s Sea of Japan coast, Japan’s preferred route. Tokyo has offered to extend some $12 billion to help finance the project.