Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) toasts with Chinese President Xi Jinping while congratulating him on his birthday before a summit in Dushanbe in June 2019.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan for a summit of a security group formed by Beijing and Moscow as a counterweight to U.S. influence.
The summit of the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) group in Samarkand comes at a time when Putin is increasingly isolated abroad following his invasion of Ukraine while Beijing's relations with the United States, Europe, Japan, and India are strained by disputes over technology, security, and territory.
A schedule distributed to the media by the Russian delegation said Putin and Xi will hold a bilateral meeting of "special significance" in the afternoon of September 15 during which they plan to discuss Ukraine and Taiwan.
Xi's visit to Uzbekistan marks his first trip abroad in more than 2 1/2 years during which he avoided traveling abroad because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Shortly before Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Xi and Putin met for the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, declaring a "limitless" friendship between their countries.
China has since diplomatically backed Russia in the war, claiming that Washington and NATO were responsible for the conflict.
Beijing has benefited from a sharp increase in trade between the two countries as Chinese products fill the market gaps in Russia caused by sanctions.
China also buys significantly more energy from Russia since the West started boycotting Russian supplies.
However, Beijing appears to avoid violating international sanctions on Russia in order not to become the target of sanctions itself.
Separately, the Uzbek government said Putin would also meet Iranian, Kyrgyz, Pakistani, Turkmen, and Uzbek leaders.
On September 16, Putin is set to meet the leaders of Azerbaijan, India, and Turkey, it added in a statement.
The same day, Putin will deliver a speech about his vision for the future of the organization and how to strengthen the Eurasian bloc at a of the SCO Heads of State Council.
The SCO, which was founded in 2001 to promote greater security and political cooperation, includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, China, and India.
Iran, which has so far held observer status, signed a memorandum of obligations to become a permanent member of the SCO earlier on September 15.
Belarus and Mongolia also hold observer status
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey have SCO partner status.
