WASHINGTON, May 21. /TASS/. The energy crisis triggered by the US-Iran war has significantly increased the attractiveness of the Power of Siberia-2 project for China, Charles Freeman, a retired US diplomat, former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, US charge d’affaires to China and Thailand, told TASS as he commented on the results of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing.

"The energy crisis created by the Israeli-American attack on Iran and the subsequent decision by the United States to blockade the Strait of Hormuz has greatly increased the attractiveness of the Power of Siberia pipeline, which would consolidate the mutually beneficial economic interdependence between China and Russia," he said. "President Putin’s visit to Beijing comes at a time when China could use assurances of greater security for its supplies of natural gas and the Russian economy could use a boost from the massive investment this project will generate," the expert noted, adding that "the pressures that American hostility has imposed on both means that it should be easier for them to find a mutually satisfactory accommodation on previously unsettled issues of pricing for Power of Siberia gas, enabling the project to go forward."

Freeman held senior positions in central offices of the US Department of the State and the Pentagon. From 1993 to 1994, he served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Over the past few decades, Freeman headed a Washington-based consulting firm, and appeared occasionally in the English-language press as a foreign policy analyst.

Power of Siberia-2 is a project for a main gas pipeline from Russia to China through Mongolia. Its capacity could reach up to 50 bln cubic meters of gas per year.

Following Putin’s visit to China in late August - early September 2025, Russia and China signed a legally binding memorandum on the construction of Power of Siberia-2 and the Soyuz Vostok transit gas pipeline through Mongolia.

Contracts for gas supplies via the Power of Siberia-2 pipeline are in the final stages, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced on Vesti during the Russian delegation’s visit to China, adding that technical revisions to the documents are currently underway.

"Beyond this, the summit exemplifies the pattern of regular consultations between China and Russia on issues of international concern," Freeman noted. He also emphasized that following the talks between the two countries’ leaders, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, a total of about 40 documents were signed. "The signing of so many bilateral agreements for cooperation is testimony to the meticulous preparations for the summit by both sides," the expert concluded.