Japan's Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, Shotaro Yachi, is currently in Moscow for talks on long-term ties between the two countries and has hopes to raise the pipeline issue with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov and other high-ranking officials.

Both China and Russia want overland pipelines - China's to terminate in China and Japan's at the closest Russian port to Japan. The Japanese proposal calls for a 3,700 km pipeline from Angarsk to Nakhodka. China's proposal is for a pipeline linking Angarsk and Daqing, a city halfway between Angarsk and Nakhodka.

Earlier reports had stated that the Russian government was favouring the Chinese bid but only recently the Russian media has said that Russia would only make a decision next August.