ISTANBUL

Russian President Vladimir Putin held brief conversations with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Putin had contacts on the sidelines of both the SCO and SCO+ with many heads of state, including leaders from Vietnam, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, Peskov told a Russian journalist.

Putin arrived in China on Aug. 31 for the SCO summit in Tianjin before heading to Beijing for events marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.