At a regular press conference today, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said that economic cooperation between China and Russia is in the common interests of both countries and "should not be interfered with or restricted by any third party," according to Reuters.

The Arctic LNG-2 project, seen as a key element in Russia's efforts to increase its share of the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market from 8% to 20% by 2030, has been hampered by US sanctions against Moscow over Russia's military campaign in Ukraine and a shortage of gas tankers.

In the Arctic LNG-2 project, Novatek, Russia's largest LNG producer, holds a 60% stake and the remaining 40% is divided equally among four foreign shareholders, including China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), France's TotalEnergies and a joint venture of Mitsui & Co and JOGMEC (Japan).

The Arctic LNG-2 project is expected to begin operations in early 2024. However, on December 25, Kommersant newspaper cited several sources as saying that all of the above foreign shareholders have suspended their participation in the Arctic LNG-2 project due to US sanctions, abandoning financial responsibilities and offtake contracts for the new Russian LNG plant.

In addition, the Sankei daily newspaper today quoted several sources as saying that Mitsui has decided to withdraw its staff from the Arctic LNG-2 project, but Mitsui's joint venture with JOGMEC is expected to retain its stake in the project, according to Reuters.