Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin and deputy prime minister Alexander Novak visited China this week to attend a Russia-China business forum in Shanghai, where they highlighted Russia's role as an energy supplier. But there is still no sign of the new gas deal that Moscow so urgently needs, while Beijing is deepening its energy ties with central Asian states. The Russian visit to China came just days after Chinese president Xi Jinping hosted the first China-central Asia summit with leaders of five central Asian countries. The summit in Xian, where Xi called for deeper economic co-operation with central Asian countries, underlines China's rising influence in a region where Russia's former dominance has been shaken by the Ukraine war.
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