As Moscow turns toward Asia’s oil markets, Russia’s growing dependence on China’s energy consumption draws a lot of attention. Often taken as evidence of a growing “oil alliance” or strategic partnership, the Sino-Russian energy relationship tends to be misrepresented. Analyses often mistake greater trade with greater trust. Economic facts on the ground complicate Russia’s political aims in finding a broader range of energy security partners as it seeks a bigger role as an energy security guarantor in Northeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific at large. Any political strategy using oil diplomacy lives and dies at the whim of market forces far beyond Russia’s control, a fact often lost in the never-ending chatter about Russia and China’s complicated relationship. Read more
