Exclusive | Between 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.