China slams sanctions on Russia’s LNG project

Says no third party should restrict economic cooperation

BEIJING:

China’s involvement in Russia’s Arctic LNG-2 liquefied natural gas project should not be the target of any third-party intervention or restrictions, its foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The United States imposed sanctions on Arctic LNG-2 in November as part of a package of sweeping new measures against Moscow over the war in Ukraine. Russian controlling shareholder Novatek has declared force majeure due to the US sanctions, according to sources.

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Russian news outlet Kommersant reported on Monday that Chinese state-owned oil majors CNOOC Ltd and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), both stakeholders, had also declared force majeure in the project. Economic cooperation between China and Russia was in the mutual interest of both countries and “should not be interfered with or restricted by any third party,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on Tuesday. “China has always opposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction without the basis of international law,” she added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2023.

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