"The SCO is a platform for developing joint solutions"

On Tuesday, September 1, following the results of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, Vladimir Putin issued a press briefing to journalists and answered questions from representatives of the leading media. The main quotes from the Russian president's communication with the press are in the Izvestia material.

About the SCO Summit

Let's start by thanking the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and all his colleagues for everything they have done to organize the work of the SCO summit. The work is extensive, and some of the structures, as you have noticed, were built for this event. Everything is at a very good, international level. Important documents have been accepted.

On the prospects of the SCO

The SCO, let me remind you, was not born spontaneously, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and, as I have already said, it was created in order to stop the possible occurrence of border conflicts and incidents, and to build work in the field of security. All this was done, everything was beneficial, timely and efficiently.

But it quickly became clear that other issues could be discussed on such a platform: economic development, combating organized crime, drug trafficking, terrorism, environmental issues, and cultural interaction. In general, the SCO has begun to gain momentum.

Today it is one of the most powerful regional structures. Its participants account for one third of the world's population. It's half the world. It is no coincidence that countries have appeared that wanted to participate and work here in full.

Whether and when the expansion is necessary depends on the opinion of the organization's participants. But we have the opinion that it is important to avoid an amorphous state. That's why we want the site to be open, so that the number of members increases, but we want to do it slowly.

This is a platform for developing common joint solutions that should benefit all participating countries.

The material is updated in real time