Putin, Xi and Other Powerful Leaders Gather for Central Asian Summit

Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi and Masoud Pezeshkian gathered in Kyrgyzstan on Monday as members and partners of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation sought greater influence in a region where the United States is not part of the grouping.

The two-day summit brings together the organisation’s 10 Asian and Central Asian member states, along with dialogue partners including Turkey. The meeting provides a setting for separate discussions among leaders whose countries are involved in, or affected by, several major conflicts.

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Uncertainty and unpredictability have increased.

Xi and Putin held their own meeting and discussed the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the issue did not take up much of their time because other matters were more important. Xi said “uncertainty and unpredictability have increased,” while Putin said “cooperation is developing successfully on all fronts.”

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Cooperation is developing successfully on all fronts.

Putin also met Modi. The Indian prime minister said India supported any effort to end the war in Ukraine. The conflict remained one of several issues addressed around the summit, rather than its only focus.

Pezeshkian held meetings with several leaders, including Putin and Modi, as the war involving Iran also featured in discussions. Speaking to Modi, he repeated that Tehran wanted an agreement with Washington to bring the conflict to an end. “Continuing the war is in neither our interest nor the interest of anyone else in the region,” Pezeshkian said.

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Continuing the war is in neither our interest nor the interest of anyone else in the region.