Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Uzbekistan counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev have discussed preparations for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which will be held in Samarkand in September, the Kremlin press service said on Monday following the conversation between the two leaders.
"Discussions on further development of Russia-Uzbekistan cooperation as well as preparations for the forthcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to be held in Samarkand in September continued," the statement reads.
The previous meeting between the two presidents was held last week, on August 16. At that time, Putin and Mirziyoyev also discussed preparations for the SCO summit. The Kremlin press service reported that "in this context, the high international prestige of the SCO and the growing contribution of the organization to strengthening regional stability and security were noted." In addition, the Russian head of state and his Uzbekistan counterpart discussed the further development of strategic partnership and alliance of the two countries.
Founded in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization includes India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are observer countries; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka are partner countries. The SCO summit in Samarkand, scheduled for mid-September, is expected to finalize Iran's admission and grant dialogue partner status to Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Belarus's application to join the SCO as a full member is also being studied.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS