Russia to host several major summits in the near future, says Putin

MOSCOW, July 3./TASS/. Russia is planning to host several major summits in the near future, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. "We will host a chain of major international events," the president said at a ceremony to receive credentials from new ambassadors on Wednesday. Russia assumes the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, while at the start of the next year, it will take over the presidency of the BRICS group of nations (Brazil, India, Russia, China and South Africa). "In July 2020 we will host summits of these associations," the Russian leader said. "We are getting ready for them, we are aiming at joint partnership and an advance of common priorities on the trajectory of security policy, economy and finance as well as cultural-humanitarian ties," Putin said. "In September of this year, Vladivostok will host a next Eastern Economic Forum. We are expecting Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe as honorary guests," Putin went on to say. "We are planning to look into prospects for putting into practice major joint investment projects in the Asia Pacific Region, to exchange opinions on ways to pair different integration processes with an aim to create big Eurasian partnership," Putin dwelt on the plans. He also put an emphasis on the Russian Energy Week forum, due in Moscow early in October, saying it was expected "to discuss issues of ensuring global energy security, total access to energy, making less volatile the prices on global energy markets". "We are working actively to pave the way for a Russia-Africa summit that we will host for the first time. It is due in Sochi at the end of October and it will be preceded by a Russian-African economic forum," the Russian leader said. He said the summit would be co-chaired by the Egyptian president, sitting Chairperson of the African Union Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. "We have sent invitations to all heads of the African states, as well as the leaders of major sub-regional unions and organizations. We expect that as a result, we will manage to propel a dialogue between Russia and Africa to a qualitatively new level, to help ensure peace and security in the region, as well as a stable development on the African continent," the Russian leader said. Read more