Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China, which is taking place from August 31 to September 1. This was Putin’s first bilateral conversation with a foreign leader at the forum.

The conversation took place after an official reception in honor of the heads of delegations and was held behind closed doors. At the beginning of the meeting, Putin noted that he was glad to have the opportunity to discuss the accumulated issues on the bilateral, regional, and international agendas.

“I am very glad to see you and have the opportunity to talk on the sidelines of today’s and tomorrow’s events. We haven’t seen each other for a long time, and many issues of all kinds have accumulated, bilateral, regional, and international. I hope that our meeting with you today… will be useful and meaningful. I am glad to see you,” the Russian president greeted Pashinyan.

He, in turn, emphasized the richness of the dialogue and called Russia a “brotherly country.”

"We always have a very busy agenda. I am sure that today's agenda is also very busy, that is obvious. I am very happy with the partnership and dialogue that has developed between us... our personal dialogue, and of course, the very active dialogue between our fraternal countries," the Armenian Prime Minister said.

At the end of the conversation, the press secretary of the Russian President noted that "it was a very good conversation, a long one, they talked face to face."

According to media reports, the talks were part of Putin's broad program at the summit, which also includes a speech, participation in a military parade in Beijing, and meetings with Chinese colleagues.

The Russian President has not yet personally communicated with Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev, contrary to the predictions of some observers that they could meet and resolve the conflict between Moscow and Baku that has been ongoing in recent months. At the same time, contacts between the delegations of the two countries took place.

In addition, experts drew attention to the noticeable difference in the "Chinese ceremonies" at the meeting between Putin and Aliyev in Beijing. At the same time, as the Dozhd TV channel notes, the Russian president is "almost the most important guest at the SCO summit." According to the media, Putin was accommodated in a luxurious palace hotel in the historical district of the city. The luxurious suite in which the honored guest is accommodated occupies 410 meters, and "Putin's retinue proudly calls it the presidential residence"

"Today, Vladimir Putin arrived in China as a triumphant winner. He has been waging a war of conquest for four years now, but despite the order of the International Criminal Court, sanctions and an attempt at global isolation, he first meets with the American president in Alaska this year and apparently charms him, and then goes to China as almost the most important guest at the SCO summit, where he will stay specially for the parade in honor of the victory in World War II, to demonstrate a special friendship on the new totalitarian axis of autocracy. Here, Xi Jinping of China, Kim Jong-un of North Korea, the president of Iran and he himself will formally celebrate the victory of the Chinese people in the war of resistance against Japanese aggression and the victory in the world anti-fascist war. Putin's unusually long visit to Xi is intended to demonstrate to the West that the boundless friendship between Russia and China is only growing stronger, and that US attempts to drive a wedge between them are doomed to failure," the TV channel says.