Why Russia's 'Pivot to China' Was All Talk and Little Action | Opinion | The Moscow Times

Russia had a good opportunity to change that cautious approach to an open door policy in the second half of 2014, when the country's economic prospects looked dismal due to falling oil prices and Western sanctions. It was a time of near panic.

 

Back then, Moscow was ready to agree to just about anything.Frightened leaders were even prepared to take drastic measures to attract Chinese investment and lending. They were poised to make irreversible decisions that would have, at the least, given China a strong presence in Russia, and at most, allowed it to dominate the Russian fuel and energy sector for decades.

 

But the Chinese were too slow to react. By mid-2015, the Russian authorities understood that no apocalypse was imminent. Russian government economists now expect economic growth to resume in late 2016, early 2017. Skeptics, however, expect continued stagnation or a sluggish recession, but even they do not predict a radical upheaval.

 

Thus, despite the fact that the Ukrainian crisis spurred closer bilateral relations with China, especially in industry, no real qualitative changes have taken place.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/why-russias-pivot-to-china-was-all-talk-and-little-action/571193.html