SCO meeting in China

Putin and Xi meet – have talked about US talks

On Sunday, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping met during the welcoming ceremony at the summit in Tianjin.

The two leaders discussed, among other things, recent contacts between Russia and the United States, according to Putin's advisor to state media, who describes the president's visit to China as "unprecedentedly long". He will stay for a total of four days.

The summit will formally begin on Monday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also participate. Putin will then continue to Beijing for an official state visit, where he will participate in the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II together with, among others, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.

 Analysis: Trump may have arranged a new bromance

For Chinese President Xi Jinping, the summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin and India's Narendra Modi is about something as ambitious as pushing forward a new world order. Ole Kristian Strøm writes for the Norwegian VG.

“He wants to show that Trump’s attempts to fend off China, India and Russia have not succeeded.”

For the sanctions-ridden Putin, it will be a chance for some big-time political stardom. Modi is likely to swallow his pride and patch up relations with China after Trump’s attempt to dictate India’s trade – we could see a new bromance between Xi and Modi, writes Strøm.

Neville Lazarus on Sky News is on the same track – Trump’s treatment of Modi has driven him into the arms of Xi and Putin, he writes.

Modi has carefully cultivated his image as a global power player, so when the White House called India “a washing machine for the Kremlin’s oil” and raised tariffs to 50 percent, the opposition was not slow to rub salt in the wounds, Lazarus continues.

“The unpredictability, punishment and humiliation from the Trump administration have made New Delhi change course. Ahead of the summit in China, a flurry of meetings between the foreign ministers of China, India and Russia have been held.”