Putin, Xi and other leaders to attend SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan amid Western tensions
Quick Look
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and over a dozen other leaders are set to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where they will promote a multipolar world vision and counter Western influence, with Iranian and Turkish leaders also expected amid ongoing trade tensions highlighted by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's criticism of China's trade surplus.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was founded 25 years ago and claims to represent 40% of the world's population and 25% of global GDP. It has historically focused on economic issues but has been used by Russia and China to promote geopolitical agendas, including criticism of Western actions in Ukraine and US-China tensions.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and more than a dozen other leaders are set to gather in Kyrgyzstan on Monday for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has historically focused on economic issues, but President Putin and President Xi have also used the summit to promote their vision of a multipolar world and to present a united front against the West.
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The SCO’s founding declaration says the group is “not an alliance directed against other states”. However, at last year’s gathering, Putin accused Western countries of provoking the Ukraine war, while Xi denounced “acts of intimidation”, referring to US-Chinese tensions.
Also expected to be in attendance are Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, though Turkiye is not a member of the organisation.
Pezeshkian is expected to hold bilateral talks with Putin at this year’s SCO in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek. The foreign ministers of both countries met in July during the SCO’s Council of Foreign Ministers meeting.
Iran joined the bloc in 2023 and maintains close military ties to Russia and energy links with China.
Alongside the SCO’s 10 permanent members, another 15 states are connected as “dialogue partners”, including Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The leaders of India and Pakistan, both of which are full members of the SCO, are also expected to attend.
The bloc claims to represent some 40 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of global GDP. This year marks 25 years since the SCO was founded.
The meeting comes shortly after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would encourage G20 members to re-examine terms of trade with China, denouncing Beijing’s $1.2 trillion global trade surplus as unsustainable.
“The world cannot have a China with a US$1.2 trillion (HK$9.36 trillion) trade surplus,” Bessent told the Reuters news agency on Sunday, ahead of a G20 finance leaders meeting in the United States.
“In China, the economy is quite weak, and they are trying to export their way out of it, and they need to rebalance their economy,” he added.
The US Treasury chief also said that he planned to hold a bilateral meeting during the G20 conference with People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng, but declined to discuss details.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Putin and Xi will issue a joint statement criticizing Western interference in global affairs
Likely · Within days
The US and China will hold a bilateral meeting at the G20 to discuss trade imbalances
Very likely · Within days
Open Questions
- What specific agreements or statements will emerge from the SCO summit regarding multipolarity?
- How will the bilateral talks between Putin and Pezeshkian affect Iran-Russia relations?
- What concrete outcomes will arise from the planned US-China bilateral meeting at the G20?
