Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will take a sidebar at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Kremlin hailed the upcoming meeting, noting that it’s particularly important amid tensions with the West.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs advisor, said that the two world leaders will discuss the international situation, along with regional issues and bilateral cooperation. “The meeting has a special significance in view of the current international situation”, Ushakov said, news agency Associated Press reported.

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China has refused to publicly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which was launched on February 24 this year. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin also met at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, shortly before the attack was launched.

As the West is moving to establish a price cap on Russian energy resources and potentially cut their imports altogether, Russia will grow increasingly reliant on China for selling its oil and gas and will be forced to cooperate with Beijing’s conditions.

Ushakov highlighted the importance of Russia and China‘s trade relations, saying that the discussion related to “trade and economic cooperation is particularly important.” The diplomat said that “the difficult conditions amid unlawful Western sanctions this cooperation has remained stable and continued gaining tempo.”

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Putin and Xi have developed strong personal ties to bolster a “strategic partnership” between the former Communist rivals as they both are now locked in rivalry with the United States. Even though Moscow and Beijing in the past ruled out a military alliance, Putin has said that such a prospect can’t be excluded.

Media reports suggest that Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also planning to meet on the sidelines of the SCO Summit 2022 in Uzbekistan. However, New Delhi has not confirmed the meeting so far.