Exactly. China sees the current sale price of Russian petroleum products as just such an opportunity, and is using the Northern Sea Route to move the products (1). The Russians have recently passed a law to further assert their control of that route (2). Interestingly, the US countered by conducting what amounts to a freedom of navigation operation in the area (3).

(1) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-24/russia-s-...

(2) https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/new-russian-law-nor...

(3) https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2023/10/uscg-healy-...