In this image provided by the press service of the president of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, right, and China's President Xi Jinping walk during a meeting ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022.
September 15, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov meet on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand.
This handout photo released by Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan, shows the palace where the summit of the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization, led by China and Russia will take a place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday started his first foreign trip since the outbreak of the pandemic with a stop in Kazakhstan ahead of a summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin and other leaders of a Central Asian security group.
People stand in front of the Registan square in downtown Samarkand on September 13, 2022. - A regional summit this week where Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet China's Xi Jinping and other Asian leaders will showcase an "alternative" to the Western world, the Kremlin said on September 13, 2022. Putin and Xi will be joined by the leaders of India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and several other countries for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on 16-17 September 2022.
A man rides a bicycle in downtown Samarkand on September 13, 2022. - A regional summit this week where Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet China's Xi Jinping and other Asian leaders will showcase an "alternative" to the Western world, the Kremlin said. Putin and Xi will be joined by the leaders of India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and several other countries for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on 16-17 September 2022.