Putin, Xi, Pezeshkian to attend Kyrgyzstan summit

Putin, Xi, Pezeshkian to attend Kyrgyzstan summit. AFP Published August 30, 2026 Updated August 30, 2026 07: 54am.

Key points

• The group brings together Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, four Central Asian countries and Moscow-allied Belarus.
• Around a dozen heads of states will head to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek to mark 25 years of the Shanghai Cooperation Group (SCO).
• Putin is additionally anticipated to hold separate bilateral discussions with Pezeshkian and Xi, among other leaders, Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov remarked.
• While the bloc claims to represent some 40 per cent of the world's population and 25pc of global GDP, it remains diverse, with some disagreements among members.
• It takes place four-and-a-half years into Moscow's Ukraine invasion and six months into the war between Washington and Tehran.

BISHKEK: Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping are projected in Central Asia's Kyrgyzstan on Monday for a two-day summit, additionally attended by Pakistan, Iran and India's leaders, of a regional bloc seeking to be a counter-influence to the West.

Meanwhile, the group brings together Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, four Central Asian countries and Moscow-allied Belarus.

It takes place four-and-a-half years into Moscow's Ukraine invasion and six months into the war between Washington and Tehran. Iran will be represented by its president, Masoud Pezeshkian. PM Shehbaz and Modi to join them at SCO event.

Putin, Xi, Pezeshkian as well as India's Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are due to take part in a plenary session chaired by Kyrgyz leader Sadyr Japarov.

Russia and Iran, among the most sanctioned states in the world, have massively deepened their military and economic ties during the Ukraine war.

US President Donald Trump has cautioned Moscow and Beijing against arming Iran.

Putin's session with Pezeshkian comes days after the CIA's director John Ratcliffe produced a rare trip to Moscow, with US media speculating he could have discussed Ukraine and Iran with his Russian counterparts.

For context, the SCO has historically focused on economic problems. It gained momentum over recent years under Moscow's and Beijing's leadership.

In practice, the SCO's founding declaration notes the group is "not an alliance directed against other states". Real and trade wars.

In practice, the Bishkek summit takes place as some SCO members are in the midst of real wars – the Ukraine and Iran conflicts – or trade wars, with the imposition of US tariffs on Chinese and Indian goods.

Mohammad Hassan Najmi, an international relations expert, informed AFP that Tehran "believes its membership and active participation in these alliances can enable it to circumvent US and European sanctions".

As "in times of crisis, these alliances have rarely allowed Iran to resolve its difficulties", but concrete benefits of the group are uncertain, he remarked.

While the bloc claims to represent some 40 per cent of the world's population and 25pc of global GDP, it remains diverse, with some disagreements among members. Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2026.

Taken together, the developments around putin, Xi, Pezeshkian to attend Kyrgyzstan summit point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.