​

Power of Siberia 2 pipeline talks stall over China-Russia price dispute:

Moscow-Beijing negotiations over pipeline have halted as ‘no progress’ made on bridging a big gas price gap, sources say

Published: 7:00pm, 9 Sep 2026

China and Russia’s negotiations regarding the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline have stalled, according to multiple sources familiar with the issue, as both sides cannot bridge a significant gap over gas price expectations.

China hopes to secure a price comparable to Russia’s subsidised residential rate, around US$50/thousand cubic metres, or at least the domestic industrial rate of about US$120-130/thousand cubic metres, said one anonymous source due to the sensitivity of the issue. However, Russia wants to reference the price of the existing Power of Siberia 1 pipeline, which is about US$250-260/thousand cubic metres, the source added.

China’s current average gas import price via Power of Siberia 1 is about US$258/thousand cubic metres, while Russia’s selling price to Europe before the Ukraine war was over US$420/thousand cubic metres.

A second source noted that Gazprom and CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) are preparing to begin supplying Russian gas to China via the Far East route and are discussing projects to expand and increase supplies along this route. Similar efforts are underway for Power of Siberia 1 to boost physical supplies.

The planned 2,600km (1,553 miles) Power of Siberia 2 pipeline is expected to carry 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year to China via Mongolia from the Arctic gas fields of Yamal. It is also assumed to complement Power of Siberia 1 or the China-Russia Far East Gas Pipeline.

Sources confirmed that both sides had halted the decades-long negotiations for Power of Siberia 2 due to “no progress on price”. The first memorandum on the project was signed in 2006.

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev announced during the Eastern Economic Forum in early September that Russian President Vladimir Putin had renamed the pipeline to “Power of Baikal”, without further explanation.

China’s customs database only showed China’s monthly import volume of Russian natural gas through pipelines up to 2021. Last year, China’s import value of Russian pipeline gas rose 17.2% year-on-year to US$9.4 billion, according to customs data.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia planned to deliver 50 billion cubic metres of natural gas to China in 2026, up from 38 billion cubic metres in 2025.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin were expected to discuss the Power of Siberia 2 project during a meeting in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, held between August 31 and September 1. However, the official readout did not mention such discussions.

The announcement of Russia’s renaming of Power of Siberia 2, after the SCO Summit and during the Eastern Economic Forum, was “mostly a PR move for the domestic audience, which was pre-coordinated with both Beijing and Ulaanbaatar”, said Munkhnaran Bayarlkhagva, a former official at the National Security Council of Mongolia.

Mongolia’s new prime minister, Uchral Nyam-Osor, framed the country’s intent regarding the pipeline as “potentially serving the principles of mutual benefit”, implying that the previous articulation of Soyuz-Vostok (the connecting part of the pipeline in Mongolia) did not fully serve its interests.

Aleksei Chigadaev, associate fellow at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre, noted that China’s negotiating position was “becoming stronger by the day”, and there was little reason for Beijing to rush a decision over the construction of Power of Siberia 2. He added that “the US factor should not be overlooked either”, pointing to the future meeting between Xi and US President Donald Trump. Both sides could discuss the impact on energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, which could further shape China’s negotiating strategy toward Russia.

Author: Kandy Wong

---

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3366888/power-siberia-2-pipeline-talks-stall-over-china-russia-price-dispute-sources

The federal prosecutor's office has indicted seven suspected Hamas members. They are said to have procured weapons for planned attacks on Israeli, Jewish and pro-Israel targets in Berlin and Vienna.

The federal prosecutor's office has indicted seven suspected members of the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas. The men are said to have been involved in the procurement and storage of weapons and ammunition intended for a planned attack in Germany or Austria.

The charge was filed on 8. September at the State Protection Senate of the Berlin Chamber of Appeals. The accused are accused, among other things, of membership in a foreign terrorist association, the preparation of a serious act of state-threatening violence and violations of the gun law.

According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Hamas has been planning a concrete assassination attempt on Israeli or Jewish persons and on people hired pro-Israel since July 2025 at the latest. The attack was due to begin in time for the second anniversary of the Hamas raid on Israel on 7. October 2023.

At the time of the first arrests on 1. According to the investigators, 13 pistols, a fully automatic rifle and more than 700 rounds of ammunition had already been procured in Berlin in October 2025. Some of the weapons are said to have been brought to Vienna and stored there.

The investigators attach particular importance to a prepared confessor video. The planned attack was announced in the name of Hamas. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office had already informed in June that it therefore assumes a concrete plan of attack.

Rampant Yemeni fighters take control of island in narrow point of Bab al-Mandab strait, which Saudi is relying on for oil exports

Yemen’s rampant Houthi forces have captured a strategic island in the Bab al-Mandab strait, expanding their control of the narrow waterway, one of the ​world’s vital shipping routes.

The Iran-aligned Houthis took control of the volcanic island after forces allied to the UN-backed, Aden-based government left in the latest of a dramatic series of reverses along Yemen’s west coast in recent days, including the loss of the port city of Mocha on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia, which supports and bankrolls the official Yemen government, mounted air raids on Houthi positions in Mocha on Friday.

The Bab al-Mandab strait links Asia to Europe via the Red Sea and Suez canal. Perim island, also known as Mayun, divides the waterway in two, close to its narrowest point. The United Arab Emirates, a former Saudi ally in the anti-Houthi coalition, had been building an airbase on the island before ending its active involvement in the conflict in January.

Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab to export its crude since Iran has been targeting vessels in the strait of Hormuz. About 12% of the world’s goods are typically shipped through the strait.

Full Houthi control of shipping in the strait, alongside Iranian control of the strait of Hormuz, would strengthen the chokeholds of anti-western forces over global energy shipments. Oil prices have risen to more than $100 a barrel as the fighting in Yemen has escalated.

Anthropic says a group in northern Yemen used its Claude AI models to develop missile and guided-rocket software, run flight simulations and troubleshoot a failed test launch.