Xi Meets Putin at SCO Summit, Power of Siberia 2 in Focus

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Monday, reaffirming their alignment as global tensions rise. Reuters and other outlets reported the meeting, which marks their second face-to-face this year.

What was said

Xi and Putin reaffirmed their strategic alliance amid growing global uncertainty on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan, with Xi telling Putin he was “happy” to meet again and describing bilateral ties as “more solid.”

The framing matters. This is a signal to Washington and Brussels that the Beijing-Moscow axis is not loosening, even as the Ukraine war grinds into a fifth year.

Power of Siberia 2 back on the table

Per the Kremlin, the two leaders were expected to discuss the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline project during the Bishkek meeting. The long-stalled pipeline is designed to route significantly more Russian gas into China.

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov indicated the topic would also be discussed at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok running September 1-4. Any concrete progress on pricing or volumes would be a material shift for global gas flows.

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The bigger geopolitical picture

Leaders of Russia, China, India and Iran are meeting in Kyrgyzstan this week for the SCO summit, with Xi, Putin, Modi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian all expected to attend and hold official meetings.

A non-Western bloc coordinating on energy, trade, and payments infrastructure is a slow-moving but real macro variable. Watch for any joint statements on de-dollarization, sanctions workarounds, or coordinated energy pricing.

Options market and stocks to watch

Energy and defense names tend to react first to headlines out of this bloc. A few to keep on the radar:

• XOM and CVX: watch for movement on any Power of Siberia 2 progress, as a firm China-Russia gas deal reshapes long-term LNG demand assumptions.
• LNG: Cheniere is directly exposed to global gas flow shifts if Russia locks in more Chinese pipeline volume.
• LMT and RTX: defense primes tend to bid on any signal that the Beijing-Moscow axis is tightening.
• BABA: watch Chinese ADRs for any spillover from SCO headlines and potential sanctions rhetoric out of Washington.

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