Vladimir Putin arrives in Kazakhstan to participate in the SCO summit: this is how he aims to increase his influence in Central Asia

He Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are in Kazakhstan on Wednesday for a regional summit, in which they seek to strengthen anti-Western alliances and increase their influence in Central Asia.

Vladimir Putin landed this morning at the airport in Astana, the capital of Central Asia’s largest economy. where the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit will be held on Thursday, while Xi Jinping arrived on Tuesday.

The permanent members of the SCO are Kazakhstan, India, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and, since last year, Iran. Together, they account for half of the world’s population.

The accession of Belarus, Russia’s main ally in its war in Ukraine, will be announced at the end of the summit on Thursday.

The organization is intended as a platform for cooperation with Western organizations that should contribute to the rise of a “multipolar” world, a term often used by Russian and Chinese leaders.

However, there are numerous disagreements among its members.

Although Russia and China wish to form a common front against the West, they have been historical rivals for influence in Central Asia, a region rich in hydrocarbons and key to the transport of goods between Europe and Asia.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to meet

Putin and Xi will meet on Wednesday as part of bilateral meetings scheduled on the sidelines of the summit. The meeting will take place a month and a half after the Russian leader’s trip to China in mid-May, where he went to seek more support in his war in Ukraine.

According to the Kremlin, Putin will also meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly offered to mediate in order to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia, China and Turkey often seek to expand their influence in Central Asia. The five countries in the region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – are former Soviet republics and share historic cultural, linguistic and economic ties with Russia.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has been trying to maintain its influence in these countries, challenged by China’s growing economic investment in the region.

Central Asia is also an essential link in China’s New Silk Roads initiative, a gigantic infrastructure project launched ten years ago by Xi Jinping.

The Chinese president welcomed the “eternal strategic alliance” between Beijing and Astana, Kazakh state media reported on Tuesday.

But Western countries are keen to compete in this region, where several European leaders recently travelled.

New impetus for the SCO

The SCO, founded in 2010, has gained new momentum in recent years as a counterweight to Western influence, focusing on security and economic issues.

The organization aims to combat what Beijing calls “the three evils”: separatism, terrorism and extremism.

Symbolizing the growing importance of this group, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also be present at the summit in Astana.

By contrast, Indian Prime Minister Nerendra Modi, who is due to visit Russia this month, will be absent.

Iran, which is holding its second round of presidential elections on Friday, will be represented by its interim president, following the death in mid-May of leader Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter accident.

In addition to its member countries, the SCO also has 14 dialogue partner states, including Turkey and the Gulf Arab countries.

At the end of the meeting in Astana, China will assume the rotating presidency of the organization for the period 2024-2025.