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Russia, China and Iran leaders facing the West converge at regional summit

From Confidencial · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News From a news agency Ongoing story
  • Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian are attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan.
  • The meeting marks the group’s 25th anniversary and brings together leaders from India, Pakistan, Belarus and four Central Asian republics.
  • The war in Ukraine and renewed U.S.-Iran fighting are overshadowing the summit, alongside discussions on regional cooperation and a possible Siberia 2 gas pipeline.

The leaders of Russia, China and Iran are gathering in Kyrgyzstan for a summit that presents the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as an increasingly influential counterweight to the United States and European Union. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping held bilateral talks on Monday, while Putin is due to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.

The summit also includes the leaders of India, Pakistan, Belarus and four Central Asian republics. It marks the 25th anniversary of the organisation, whose members span territory from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean and represent about 40% of the world’s population and 25% of global GDP, according to the report.

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

— Vladimir PutinPutin described the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s growing international role at the summit.

The official focus is regional cooperation, but conflicts involving the group’s major powers are hanging over the meeting in Bishkek. The war in Ukraine remains a central issue, while fighting between the United States and Iran has resumed. Washington attacked Iran’s Larak island in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran responded with missile and drone strikes on U.S. bases in the region. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who recently urged both sides to enter meaningful negotiations, was also invited.

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

— Xi JinpingXi outlined the organisation’s stated role at the meeting.

Putin said the SCO had become a fully established international organisation and described it as a vehicle for stronger ties among countries of the East and Global South and for building a fairer, multipolar world. Xi said the group’s important mission was to maintain regional stability and support development.

Pezeshkian, received by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, backed a proposal to build a joint refinery in Central Asia. The report said it was unclear whether Putin and Xi discussed the planned Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which would carry 50 billion cubic metres of Siberian gas to China through Mongolia. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, urged Putin to end the war in Ukraine and is due to receive him again in two weeks.

Enter meaningful negotiations.

— António GuterresThe UN secretary-general’s appeal to the United States and Iran was cited as fighting resumed between them.
About this summary

Originally published by Confidencial in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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