Kathmandu— Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to reaffirm their countries' strong bilateral ties amid growing global uncertainty. This was their first meeting since May, where they discussed economic relations and briefly touched upon the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Strategic Alliance

Xi Jinping expressed his happiness at meeting Putin again and noted that despite increased international unpredictability, ties between Beijing and Moscow have grown more solid. He emphasized that there are 'even brighter' prospects for relations ahead. Putin agreed, stating that cooperation is successfully developing on all fronts.

SCO Summit Context

The SCO summit in Bishkek marks the 25th anniversary of the regional security and economic grouping. Over a dozen heads of state are attending, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a dialogue partner.

Economic Dependence

Due to Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia's economy has become increasingly dependent on China. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media that Putin and Xi largely discussed economic relations and only briefly touched upon the conflict in Ukraine.

(With inputs from Al Jazeera)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.