Gazprom Deepens Gas Talks With China as Russia Promotes Non-Western Integration

Russia's state gas company Gazprom said it is in detailed discussions with China over new gas supply opportunities, according to Chief Executive Alexey Miller, who framed expanding contractual obligations as evidence of trust and of Chinese demand for Russian gas. The remarks, carried by Russian state media, should be read as one side's account, but they fit a clear pattern of Moscow reorienting its energy exports eastward after losing most of its European market.

The commercial shift runs alongside a political one. President Vladimir Putin used Belarus's independence day to describe the Union State of Russia and Belarus as a model of mutually beneficial integration, part of a broader effort to bind sanctioned and partner economies into arrangements insulated from Western pressure.

The strain behind that strategy is visible in corporate cash flows. Shareholders in the Russian oil producer Bashneft approved a dividend of 69.29 rubles per share for 2025, totaling 12.3 billion rubles, or 25 percent of net profit, a payout ratio that signals caution about retaining capital under sanctions and softer energy revenue.