Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday met Chinese President Hu Jintao for talks that were expected to be dominated by an oil pipeline and other trade-related issues. During Putin's three-day visit, the two sides planned to sign more than a dozen documents covering cooperation in oil and gas, banking, shared borders and other issues. China is keen to secure Russian agreement on the building of an oil pipeline to Russia's Far East that may have a main branch serving either Japan or China. Before he left Moscow, Putin told Chinese state media he would have an "absolutely frank" discussion with Hu on the pipeline, but that Russian interests would come first. "I think you will understand me - I will say this very openly and in all honesty," the official China Daily quoted Putin as saying. "First of all, we have to be driven by our own national interests. We have to develop the eastern territories of the Russian Federation, the territories of the Far East." "I am confident that we will be able to reach a decision that will satisfy both us and our partners," he said. The 2,400-kilometre pipeline would run from the Angarsk oilfield to Daqing in northeastern China. A longer route would run from Angarsk to the eastern port of Nakhodka on the Sea of Japan, transporting up to 50 million tons of oil annually, according to Russia's energy strategy to 2020. --more 1321 Local Time 1021 GMT
