Interfax: Moscow says Silk Road route may go via Russia

BEIJING. Nov 10 (Interfax) – Some sections of the Silk Road route pass through Russia, according to Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriyev.

“The route is being chosen, and Russia should hold a very active position in this respect. The Russian president said earlier today that we had plenty of infrastructural capacity for building a part of that route across Russia. The partnership between Russia and China is very strong indeed and we believe that the Silk Road project will go across the territory of Russia amongst others,” Dmitriyev noted.

As reported earlier, Russia has backed the Chinese administration’s initiative to form a Silk Road economic belt. For instance, the Russian authorities believe it is feasible to connect the Silk Road to the trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur rail lines.

“The connection of the Silk Road to these rail lines will expand the possibility of transit of Chinese commodities to Europe and our commodities to Southeast Asia and that will revive the economy,” Kremlin administration chief Sergei Ivanov said in Beijing in July.

He said the construction of a motorway from China to the Baltic Sea via Kazakhstan had been coordinated.