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Politics42 outlets ran this4 min read

Putin and Xi to attend SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan

Leaders from Russia, China, and Iran will meet for a two-day summit hosted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
Participants of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025 pose for photos with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Centre in Tianjin, China. (File photo: Pool via Reuters/Suo Takekuma)

What this story says

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan from August 31.
  • The summit will also be attended by leaders from Iran and India, among other member states.
  • Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov confirmed Putin is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and China's Xi Jinping.
  • The meeting occurs during the ongoing Ukraine invasion, the conflict between Washington and Tehran, and trade disputes involving US tariffs.

Who covered it

Left 21%(3)Centre 50%(7)Right 29%(4)

Percentages are shares of the 14 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 28 of the 42 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

65/100

Hype

20/100

42 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 3 of the 14 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Leaders from Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping respectively, are expected to attend a two-day summit in Kyrgyzstan beginning Monday, August 31. The meeting is hosted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional bloc that includes Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, four Central Asian countries, and Belarus. Leaders from Iran and India are also expected to attend.

Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov stated that Putin is scheduled to hold separate bilateral discussions with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and China's Xi Jinping during the summit. The SCO summit takes place against a backdrop of international tensions, including the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the conflict between Washington and Tehran, and trade wars involving US tariffs on Chinese and Indian goods.

Disagreements in reporting

The timing of the summit is reported differently. Channel News Asia, CTV News, France24, and Radio France Internationale state the summit begins on Monday, August 31. However, Anadolu Ajansı, EADaily, and news-pravda.com indicate the summit takes place on August 31 and September 1.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mention the specific date the summit begins, only that it is scheduled for August 31 and September 1. The left-rated digest does not specify the exact dates of the summit.

Tags:#SCO#Putin#XiJinping#Kyrgyzstan#Geopolitics#InternationalRelations

Coverage settled. We checked this 58 times and stopped on 3 Sept 2026, 22:30. The figures above are what it finished at.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Traditional Russian wooden dolls called Matryoshka depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping are displayed for sale at a souvenir shop in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
CTV NewsCentre

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

3 rated outlets

  • The Hindu and One India reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled from Tashkent to Bishkek to attend the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, describing his agenda as advancing India’s vision of security, connectivity and opportunity and seeking a region free from terrorism. Al‑Monitor’s digest added that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were also expected to attend.
  • The Hindu’s digest and the Indian Express digest highlighted Modi’s meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the summit, noting that it was their first face‑to‑face encounter since the Iran war began. One India’s digest framed the discussion around rising US‑Iran tensions and the risk to civilian safety, while the Siasat Daily digest reiterated the significance of the bilateral dialogue.
  • None of the left‑rated digests mention a cost estimate for the summit, and the full reports from The Hindu and One India do not include any statements from President Putin or President Xi. The coverage also omits details about the agenda items of other SCO members beyond the broad themes of security and connectivity.

Centre

7 rated outlets

  • Channel News Asia and CTV News reported that leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping were expected at a summit in Kyrgyzstan. The reports stated the event marked 25 years of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a bloc aiming to counter Western influence.
  • These reports noted that Putin and Xi have previously used SCO summits to promote a multipolar world and a united front against the West. They also mentioned the summit takes place during Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and the war between Washington and Tehran.
  • The Economic Times, Hindustan Times, Live Mint, Deutsche Welle, AKIpress, and Greater Kashmir focused their coverage on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kyrgyzstan for the SCO Summit. These outlets highlighted his agenda of strengthening India's ties and regional cooperation.

Right

4 rated outlets

  • The Straits Times digest stated the summit is part of a regional bloc seeking to be a counter-influence to the West. The Anadolu Ajansı digest reported that Yury Ushakov said the Russian president would hold a number of bilateral meetings in Bishkek before travelling to Vladivostok. EADaily and news-pravda.com digests focused on Putin's schedule, with EADaily mentioning Russia's Assistant President for International Affairs, Yuri Ushakov, publishing details of Vladimir Putin's schedule. The news-pravda.com digest noted the Russian president's visit to Bishkek for the SCO summit and his attendance at the Eastern Economic Forum.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Putin and Xi to attend SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan?
Of the 14 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 21% are rated left, 50% are rated centre, 29% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 42. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Putin and Xi to attend SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 14 rated outlets on this story, 21% are rated left, 50% are rated centre, 29% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Putin and Xi to attend SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan biased?
Putin and Xi to attend SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan is one event reported by 42 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Putin and Xi to attend SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Putin and Xi to attend SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan?
42 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
When is the SCO summit taking place?
The summit is scheduled to take place in Kyrgyzstan over two days, starting on Monday, August 31. Some reports specify the dates as August 31 and September 1.
Who is attending the SCO summit?
Leaders from Russia, China, and Iran are expected to attend, along with leaders from India and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. This includes four Central Asian countries and Belarus.
What bilateral meetings are planned?
Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to hold separate bilateral talks with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and China's President Xi Jinping during the summit.
What is the geopolitical context of the summit?
The summit occurs amidst the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the conflict between Washington and Tehran, and trade disputes involving US tariffs on Chinese and Indian goods. The SCO is described as a regional bloc seeking to be a counter-influence to the West.

Read it at the source

211 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

16
Show 8 more

Centre

23
Show 15 more

Right

60
Show 52 more

Not rated

112
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How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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