"Xi Jinping-Putin Bilateral Meeting... At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the 15th and 16th, according to the Russian ambassador to China on the 7th (local time).

According to Russian news agency TASS and others, Andrey Denisov, the Russian ambassador to China, said on the day, "We are planning a serious and comprehensive meeting on specific agenda items," adding, "We are coordinating the agenda with our Chinese partners."

He explained, "This summit will be interesting as it is the first full meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic," and added, "It is not that online meetings are inadequate, but direct face-to-face talks between leaders offer a different quality of discussion. There will be a plenary session where all leaders gather, as well as various group meetings."

The SCO, launched in 2001 under the leadership of China and Russia, is a political, economic, and security consultative organization with eight member countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, China, and Russia. It is reported that all eight heads of state have expressed their intention to attend this meeting.

If the bilateral meeting takes place, President Putin and President Xi will meet face-to-face for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. President Xi has refrained from overseas visits for about two years and eight months since his visit to Myanmar in January 2020, citing COVID-19.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.