Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived today in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin for the meeting of leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA, citing Russian news agencies.
The meeting of SCO leaders begins today, DPA notes. Vladimir Putin's four-day visit to China also begins today.
Russian President's advisor on international affairs Yuri Ushakov noted that such a long visit to a foreign country is an unusual and quite rare event, TASS reported.
Today and tomorrow Putin will be in Tianjin for the SCO summit, and on September 2 and 3 he will be in Beijing. Russian-Chinese talks are planned for September 2, and Putin will attend a military parade to mark the end of World War II on September 3.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to deliver several speeches and make announcements.
A joint declaration by SCO leaders, who have been invited by Xi to a banquet, is also planned.
The first day of the SCO meeting is expected to be dominated by individual meetings between leaders.
Among the participants in the meeting will also be Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.