Russia, China leaders to meet at Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit

What the report says

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping are among more than a dozen leaders expected to meet in Kyrgyzstan on Monday for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, according to Al Jazeera’s report based on AFP. The gathering is taking place in Bishkek and comes as the bloc marks 25 years since its founding.

Al Jazeera reports that the SCO was originally centered on economic cooperation, but Putin and Xi have also used it to promote a broader idea of a multipolar world and to show political alignment among states that often challenge Western influence. The organization’s founding declaration says it is not aimed against other countries, yet its meetings have often featured criticism of the West. Al Jazeera noted that at last year’s summit Putin blamed Western states for provoking the war in Ukraine, while Xi criticized what he called acts of intimidation amid tensions with the United States.

Also expected in Bishkek are Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, though Turkiye is not a member of the SCO. Pezeshkian is expected to hold bilateral talks with Putin, and Iran’s recent admission to the bloc in 2023 adds to its close ties with Russia and China.

The SCO now includes 10 permanent members and 15 dialogue partners, and Al Jazeera said it claims to represent about 40 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of global GDP. The summit also comes amid renewed US pressure on China over trade imbalances, adding to the wider geopolitical backdrop.