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Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the Ukraine conflict with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in China, the Kremlin announced Friday.
"Türkiye plays an important role in the Ukraine resolution process," Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Friday, including Agence France-Presse (AFP), during a briefing ahead of Putin's visit to the SCO summit scheduled for Sunday (Aug. 31) to Sept. 1 in Tianjin, China.
The bilateral meeting is scheduled to take place during a summit that is expected to bring together more than 20 world leaders, making it one of the most significant diplomatic gatherings of the year.
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Bin announced on August 22 that Chinese President Xi Jinping will host both the "SCO Heads of State Council Meeting" for member countries and the "SCO Plus Meeting," which includes observer nations and dialogue partners.
More than 20 heads of state and government, along with leaders from more than 10 international organizations, are expected to attend the 25th SCO summit.
Liu later confirmed attendance by all SCO member state leaders, including Putin, Kazakh President, Kyrgyz President, Tajik President, Uzbek President, Indian Prime Minister, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
President Erdogan will also participate in the summit as part of Türkiye's dialogue partner status with the organization.
The SCO was initially established in 1996 as a border security and economic cooperation alliance by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, then known as the "Shanghai Five." Uzbekistan joined in 2001.
The organization expanded significantly with the addition of India and Pakistan at the 2017 Astana summit in Kazakhstan, followed by Iran at the 2021 Dushanbe summit in Tajikistan, bringing its membership to nine countries.
Belarus' membership was approved at the July summit in Astana, raising the total membership to 10 countries.
Mongolia and Afghanistan, whose status has been inactive since September 2021, serve as observer states.
The organization maintains dialogue partnerships with 14 countries, including Türkiye.
The combined territory of member countries covers approximately 65% of the Eurasian continent, representing 40% of the world's population and 30% of global gross domestic product.
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