Russia, China and Iran, in Conflict with the West, Converge at Regional Summit

The leaders of Russia, China and Iran are meeting in Kyrgyzstan at a regional summit as their countries face military or commercial tensions with the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held bilateral talks in Bishkek on Monday. Putin is due to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian the following day. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation gathering also includes the leaders of India, Pakistan, Belarus and four Central Asian republics, and marks the group’s 25th anniversary.

The organisation’s stated focus is regional cooperation stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Its members account for 40% of the world’s population and 25% of global GDP. Yet the war in Ukraine and renewed U.S. military action involving Iran are casting a shadow over the meeting.

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I am pleased that our initiative has an international character in every sense of the word. The SCO has become a fully established organisation.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, along with representatives from Arab, Asian and Caucasian countries, was also invited. Putin said the organisation had become a fully established international body and described it as a forum for closer ties among countries in the East and Global South. Xi said its important mission was to preserve regional stability and support development.

The leaders met with large official delegations. It was not clear whether they discussed the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, a project that would allow Russia to supply China with 50 billion cubic meters of Siberian gas through Mongolia. Pezeshkian also backed a proposal for a joint refinery in Central Asia.

The summit coincides with renewed fighting between the United States and Iran. Washington attacked two rocket-launch platforms on Iran’s Larak Island, and Iran responded by striking U.S. bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. UN Secretary-General António Guterres was invited to the summit, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged an end to the war in Ukraine during his meeting with Putin.

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Its important mission is to maintain stability in the region and contribute to its development.