SCO Summit, Scheduled for 22-23 July in St. Petersburg, Postponed, Source Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has decided to postpone the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), it could be held closer to the fall, a high-ranking source familiar with the organization of the event said.

“The president decided to postpone the event, move it to a later date, most likely closer to the fall”, the source said. The official explained that this had been done "in connection with the epidemiological situation, given that in almost all the member states of the organization, it has not been fully resolved".

The source emphasized that the organizers were against holding the summit in the format of a video conference.

The SCO summit was planned to be held on 22-23 July 2020 in St. Petersburg.

The SCO, or Shanghai Pact, founded in 2001, is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance that comprises eight members – China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and India.

While Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia are SCO observers, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey are dialogue partners.