China, Russia gas route to speed up

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday a route to supply gas to China via Western Siberia may be implemented faster than the eastern route, through which Moscow has agreed to ship the fuel to its Asian neighbor.

Russia and China clinched a $400 billion gas deal last week after years of talks, which will help Russia to diversify gas supplies away from Europe, its main export market.

Gazprom has yet to build a pipeline to carry 38 billion cubic meters of gas annually to China from 2018 through Eastern Siberia.

Russia and China have agreed a $25 billion prepayment under a supply deal, Alexander Medvedev, the head of Gazprom's exporting arm, said on Friday.