Maybe not as it seemed at first: Is the Russia-China Gas Deal for Real—or Just Fumes?in part: ..... This is all just speculation, but the timing is worth noting, too. Just hours before the deal was officially announced, reports went out that the two sides had failed to come to terms over price. The next thing we knew, Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping were shaking hands on a stage in Shanghai while the heads of their respective countries’ state-owned energy companies signed on dotted lines. If Putin had left Shanghai without a deal, it would have put him in a weaker position in early June, when he will sit down with President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Now, he’ll have proof that Russia can lessen its dependence on Western customers, insulating itself in the long run from sanctions over Ukraine. In the wake of the criminal charges that the U.S. just levied against Chinese military officials for allegedly spying on U.S. companies, China may have found itself inclined to stick it to the U.S. by helping Russia. As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. At least for now.