Radio Free Asia: China, Russia Mull Mongolia Gas Route Amid Ukraine Crisis

The conflict in Ukraine has driven Russia and China to consider energy options that appeared far-fetched only a few months ago.

Russia's rift with the European Union has raised risks for Moscow in its main energy export market, spurring efforts to forge closer ties with China as an alternate revenue source.

The result is a push for pipeline projects that have languished for years.

Just four months after signing a U.S. $400-billion (2.4- trillion yuan) deal to supply gas to China through a 4,000- kilometer (2,485-mile) East Siberian pipeline, Russia is promoting plans for a second line from the west that officials say could be agreed upon soon.

At a ceremony marking the start of the eastern pipeline project in the Russian city of Yakutia on Sept. 1, President Vladimir Putin and Alexei Miller, CEO of state-owned Gazprom, voiced their readiness to develop the western route to Xinjiang, known as the Altai pipeline. MORE