Putin Xi Pezeshkian and Modi to Meet at SCO Summit in Bishkek Amid Ukraine and Iran Wars

Analysis
Staging separate Putin-Xi and Putin-Pezeshkian sessions inside one plenary lets Moscow present Ukraine financing and Tehran's sanctions evasion as elements of a single aligned front against Washington, with CIA Director Ratcliffe's recent Moscow visit running as a parallel US channel rather than one routed through that alignment. Beijing's pledge to "firmly defend" its Iranian oil purchases, issued just ahead of the gathering, signals it will absorb the new US secondary sanctions rather than curtail imports. Sourcing rests on a single wire dispatch reproduced across outlets without independent confirmation, warranting caution. The gathering may instead function as a forum for openly divergent interests, including India's parallel Washington ties, Pakistan-India tension, and Russia-China competition for Central Asian influence, undercutting any unified-bloc reading. Whether the bilateral sidebars produce sanctions-relief or arms-transfer commitments beyond the expected communique boilerplate remains to be determined.