ASTANA: Russian President Vladimir Putin has embarked on an official visit to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, which hosts the Shanghai...
ASTANA: Russian President Vladimir Putin has embarked on an official visit to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, which hosts the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit this week.
In addition to the July 4 General Meeting, the Russian leader has a series of scheduled bilateral meetings on Wednesday as he will be present at talks with at least seven heads of state in Astana.
The Kremlin’s press office announced earlier that President Putin had already arrived in Astana in the early hours of Wednesday.
Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov stated on Tuesday that Putin was set to hold a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Astana.
According to Ushakov, Moscow considers the summit in Astana as an "opportunity to organize bilateral contacts with the county leaders who will attend it." That is why Putin’s program "includes a range of very important bilateral contacts," he noted.
Thus, Putin’s talks with Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh of Mongolia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, and Xi Jinping of China, as well as with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are scheduled for July 3, a day ahead of protocol events.
The SCO summit is scheduled to be held on July 4 at the Palace of Independence in Astana. It is expected that SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming will attend the summit.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the leaders of several international organizations were also invited.
The SCO was founded on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai. Initially the organization included Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, in 2017 they were joined by India and Pakistan. Tehran applied to join in 2008 and became a full-fledged member of the organization in July 2023. Belarus is expected to join the group soon.
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