The announcement came during Russia's Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

Russia's Novatek on Thursday announced the launch of a major liquefied natural gas project in the Arctic with Chinese, Japanese and French partners.

The company, Russia's largest independent natural gas producer, said that a "final investment decision" had been made on financing the $21 billion Arctic LNG 2 project with partners including France's Total, CNPC and CNOOC of China, and a Japanese consortium.

The announcement came during Russia's Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, where President Vladimir Putin is hosting Asian leaders including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Arctic LNG 2 will see the development of the Utrenneye field and the building of a natural gas liquefication plant on the Gydan Peninsula in Russia's Arctic.

The plant will have a capacity of 19.8 million metric tonnes and its first exports are expected in 2023.