ExclusiveBetween China and Russia, landlocked Mongolia eyes summit to enhance ties as geopolitical pressures mount

Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene says interconnectivity is being prioritised, and his country is waiting for its two neighbours to act

Highly sought-after China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor would enhance resource trade and investment flows as Western sanctions have upended supply chains

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) met Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene during his trip to Beijing in July. Photo: X/Shaoqing Tantai

Published: 2:02pm, 24 Jan 2024Updated: 10:01am, 27 Jan 2024

Mongolia says it is trying to arrange a summit with China and Russia to enhance their collaborative projects, and a gathering of the neighbours could speed up new railway connections and economic corridor developments.

Mongolia’s prime minister also tells the Post that a feasibility study is being conducted to further enhance the nation’s involvement in China’s Belt and Road Initiative that aims to link economies into a trading network.

“Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working with different diplomatic channels to organise the summit with Russia and China,” Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene said in a video chat via Zoom last week while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “[But] we have not set a date, yet.”

Such a summit is seen as vital against the backdrop of mutually concerning issues. Nearly three years into its war in Ukraine, Russia’s economy is still weathering a sanction storm from the West. And China, which has never condemned Russia’s invasion, saw trade with its northern neighbour hit a record high last year.

Mongolia, a landlocked country squeezed between Russia and China, is heavily dependent on both.

The last meeting of the three countries’ respective government heads was held in the Uzbekistan city of Samarkand in September 2022.

Oyun-Erdene also expressed hope that President Xi Jinping will visit Mongolia this year to mark the 10th anniversary of his last visit to the country.