Putin eyes new deals with China: bad news for EU gas supplies?

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is hoping to line up more than 30 contracts worth $5.5 billion, relating to communications, transport, and energy, during his trip to China this week.
 
Over the last 6 years, trade between the two countries has risen to over $50 billion per annum, and the Kremlin is keen to build on this as it struggles with an economic decline set to reach 7.5% this year - far worse than initially predicted.
 
Russia is already a major supplier of fossil fuels to China, and earlier this year, Moscow signed a $25bn agreement to help fund a pipeline to supply oil from Siberia to China. In exchange, China was guaranteed a 20-year supply of crude oil.
 
It is any potential deal to provide extra gas, however, that should be of concern to Europeans. Quite frankly, Russia is unable to meet its existing committments, with domestic consumers suffering supply cuts as the Kremlin struggles to send oil westwards. Any increase in demand from China is likely to have an effect on Europe's supplies.
 
China is becoming an increasingly important partner for Russia, and co-operation is growing in the economic, political, and military spheres. Europe, on the other hand, has shown itself willing to be bullied, and seems unable to formulate any kind of decisive response to crises such as the traditional January shutdown of gas supplies. I would like to think that EU policy makers will have taken note of the fact that the shutdowns always happen at time of peak demand, which might confirm Russia's inability to meet existing commitments... but sometimes experience overwhelms optimism in the context of the EU.