Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping To Meet On Sidelines Of SCO Summit In Uzbekistan: Report

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are also expected to attend the G20 summit in Bali in November where US President Joe Biden is also expected to join, as per a report by the Guardian.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will meet on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand on September 15 and 16, said Russian envoy to Beijing Andrey Denisov on Wednesday, reported Russian news agency TASS News. 

"In less than ten days we will have a regular meeting of our SCO leaders in Samarkand, we are getting ready for it. In general, this summit promises to be interesting, because it will be the first full-fledged summit since the pandemic," he said, quoted by the Russian news agency. 

"I do not want to say that online summits are not full-fledged, but still, direct communication between leaders is a different quality of discussion. One way or another, there will be plenary sessions and various kinds of group meetings, and we are planning a serious, full-fledged meeting of our leaders with a detailed agenda, which we are now, in fact, working on with our Chinese partners," the diplomat said.

As per a report by the Guardian, Xi’s office said that he might attend the summit in person and that bilateral meetings could also be held with leaders of India, Pakistan, and Turkey. The officials have however cautioned that the Chinese President’s plan may and it was possible that he could attend the summit virtually. After the global outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, Xi has not left China since January 2020. 

As per the Guardian report, the two leaders are also expected to attend the G20 summit in Bali slated to take place in November where US President Joe Biden is also expected to join. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he would also take part in the summit remotely. 

The two summits will provide an opportunity to hold face-to-face discussions at a time of high tension, particularly over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s aggressive military posturing around Taiwan. The People’s Liberation Army of China has been carrying out military exercises around the island nation after a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.