Posted on 06/10/2018 12:30:11 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Chinese President Xi Jinping will open late Saturday a two-day regional security summit attended by Russia, Iran and other allies confronting rising tensions with the US over trade and Washington’s withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal.
Armored vans lined the streets of the coastal city of Qingdao as world leaders arrived Friday for the 18th annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security bloc led by China and Russia.
Its member states also include four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, Pakistan and India. Iran is an observer member.
Authorities emptied an entire oceanside swathe of the city — clearing out shopkeepers, residents and day-trippers to make way for Xi, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.
Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend the meeting.
The leaders will be addressed by Xi this evening at an opening banquet from 7:45 p.m. (1145 GMT), according to the official schedule, before taking in a fireworks display.
The SCO meeting comes after President Donald Trump controversially pulled Washington out of the 2015 international pact with Iran that placed limits on its nuclear program in return for easing economic sanctions. The tensions over Iran come as another nuclear issue dominates headlines, with Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un preparing for an unprecedented summit in Singapore.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
China meets with Russia and Trump slams the G7 over Russia not being there. I’ve been saying forever that we need to make nice with Russia or they’ll team up with China against the US.
bgill: Trump said Russia should be present, but made the statement immediately after saying “Blame Obama” for the Crimea takeover. Meaning, the event which led to Russia’s ouster from the G8 (annexation of Crimea) likely would not have happened under Trump’s watch. Hence why “Crimea” was a trending term on Twitter yesterday.
Russian officials would not see such a mixed-up statement like that as a “friendly invite.” And most importantly, the G7 is rather flukey considering how far Angela Merkel (and France’s Macron for that matter) has gone in cementing Germany’s economic and energy ties with Russia via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and other measures.
The E.U. also supports the Iran Nuke Deal.
I love it. What does Iran have to offer them other than a reason to be afraid of the mullahs?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.