On Monday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and leaders of more than a dozen countries are expected to gather in Kyrgyzstan for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The SCO has historically focused on economic issues, but President Putin and President Xi are also using the forum to promote a vision of a multipolar world and to show unity against the West.
The SCO's founding declaration states that the organization is "not an alliance against other countries." However, at last year's summit, President Putin accused Western nations of provoking the war in Ukraine, while President Xi condemned "threatening actions" related to U.S.-China tensions.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have also confirmed their attendance, although Turkey is not a member of the organization.
Mr. Pezeshkian is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with President Putin on the sidelines of the summit in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek. Earlier, in July, the foreign ministers of the two countries met during the SCO Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
Iran joined the SCO in 2023, has close military ties with Russia, and energy relations with China.
In addition to the 10 permanent members, the SCO has 15 "dialogue partners," including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
Leaders of India and Pakistan, both official members, are also expected to attend. The SCO claims to represent about 40% of the world's population and 25% of global GDP. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the SCO's founding.
The summit comes shortly after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would encourage G20 members to reconsider trade terms with China, criticizing Beijing's $1.2 trillion global trade surplus as unsustainable.
"The world cannot accept a China with a $1.2 trillion trade surplus," Mr. Bessent told Reuters on Sunday, ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers' meeting in the United States.
"The Chinese economy is currently quite weak; they are trying to escape that by pushing exports, but they need to rebalance their economy," he added.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary also said he plans to hold a bilateral meeting with the Governor of the People's Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting, but did not provide details.
