The sources said other senior Russian energy officials would also be in the delegation. Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas producer, and Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, did not immediately reply to requests for comments. The proposed pipeline would bring gas from the Yamal peninsula fields in western Siberia to China, the world's top energy consumer and a growing gas consumer. China and Russia have yet to agree on the terms of gas deliveries via the route, including pricing. Negotiations are complex, in part because China is not expected to need more gas until after 2030, industry analysts said.

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Persons: Vladimir Putin, Rosneft Igor Sechin, Yuri Trutnev, Alexei Miller, Igor Sechin, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Xi Jinping, Sechin, Xi, Vladimir Soldatkin, Gareth Jones, Guy Faulconbridge, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Zvezda, Gazprom, Reuters, China's, Moscow, Thomson Locations: Bolshoy Kamen, Vladivostok, Russia, Ukraine, MOSCOW, China, Beijing, Moscow, Russian, Asia, Europe, Siberia, Mongolia