Russia and China on Tuesday signed a legally binding deal to build the long-delayed Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, deepening commercial ties in what is likely to be seen as a defiant signal to the West.

Alexei Miller, the chief executive of Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom, told Russian news agencies that a memorandum of understanding had been signed on the construction of the new gas pipeline, following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping in Beijing.

The pipeline, which is set to transit gas reserves in Russia's West Siberia to northern China via eastern Mongolia, will make it possible to supply 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year, Miller said, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

Supplies under the new Power of Siberi

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