Washington out in the cold as China-Russia relations flourish

-- China's President Xi Jinping will have plenty to discuss with his Russian host and counterpart Vladimir Putin when they meet on the sidelines of the G-20 leaders' summit in St. Petersburg this week, as relations between the former foes grow cozier.

The hot issue is clearly Syria, where China and Russia strongly oppose any U.S.-led military intervention against President Bashar al-Assad's government in Damascus over its apparent use of chemical weapons. Both urge restraint and call for a political solution -- much to Washington's consternation.

Xi, who calls the Sino-Russian relationship the "best" among major countries, says they will always be good neighbors who aspire to "never be enemies." China is a major buyer of Russian weaponry and the two countries held their biggest joint naval exercise in the Sea of Japan in July this year.

The two countries also enjoy a growing trade relationship, expected to be worth $100 billion by 2015, that is based heavily on China buying Russian energy exports such as oil and gas. As part of this energy trade, both sides see investment opportunities in Arctic and Russian Far East resources development, and in the related advancement of pipeline infrastructure and maritime transport links such as the Northern Sea Route through Arctic waters.

Putin has made it clear that he wants to see this energy trade grow even more vigorously, and has given strong backing to the various oil and gas deals struck so far by Russian-state owned energy companies Rosneft and Gazprom with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The Russian non-state company Novatek also has a deal with CNPC involving development of the vast Yamal Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in northwest Siberia.