Caspian Report - Issue: 08 - Fall 2014

Russian President
Vladimir Putin
shakes hands
with his China’s
counterpart Xi
Jinping.
MESUT HAKKI CASIN
92
RUSSIA HAS THE WORLD’S LARGEST NATURAL
GAS RESERVES AND CHINA IS THE WORLD’S
BIGGEST GAS CONSUMER.
strategy same as the Russian national
flag’s double eagle figure. Putin
is turning toward China in order
to demonstrate that West cannot
isolate and bypass Russia when it
comes to energy. In the face of growing
geopolitical isolation, Putin even
threatened to shut off the Gazprom
pipelines that supply about 30% of
Europe’s natural gas demand. Yet
Russia’s occupation and attempted
annexation of Crimea, its ongoing
destabilising actions in Donetsk and
Luhansk, and Gazprom’s gas delivery
cut-off to Ukraine are reminders
of the acute security risks that the
region faces. The result is the most
serious confrontation between ‘East’
and ‘West’ since the fall of the Iron
Curtain, with possibly long term foreign
policy repercussions. Energy
featured prominently in policy debates
during the crisis. 6 If there is a
serious threat to its ability to export
oil and gas, not only will Russia’s
economy come under threat, but
also its political stability.
RUSSIAN GAS STRATEGY AS
A RESPONSE TO WESTERN
CHALLENGES
In an attempt Russian gas energy
strategies to bridge the Asia-Pacific
and European market take care of
the rivalry each other. Twenty-five
years after the fall of the Berlin Wall,
China and Russia have a unique win-
6.
“The 2014 Ukraine-Russia Crisis: Implications for Energy Markets and Scholarship”, http://www.
naturalgaseurope.com/ukraine-russia-crisis-implications-energy-markets-cholarshiputm_source
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medium=email&utm_term=0_c95c702d4c-5fde58b691-307767661.