Russian President Vladimir Putin has met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, held on August 31 and September 1.
The host country, Kyrgyzstan, is the first third country against which the European Union has activated its anti-circumvention tool.
The Council of the European Union adopted the measure on April 23, 2026, as part of its 20th sanctions package against Russia, banning EU exports of metalworking machining centres and telecommunications equipment to the Central Asian state.
The European Commission has described the instrument as an exceptional measure of last resort, to be used where individual listings and diplomatic outreach have failed.
Brussels cited what it called the systematic and persistent failure of the Kyrgyz Government to prevent the onward supply to Russia of machine tools and telecoms equipment used to build drones and missiles.
Trade data underpinning the decision showed EU exports of common high-priority goods to Kyrgyzstan up by about 800 per cent on pre-war levels, with Kyrgyz exports of the same items to Russia rising some 1,200 per cent.
The package also added four Kyrgyz banks to EU restrictions, on top of two listed in the 19th package in October 2025.
Bishkek rejected the accusations and asked the Commission for what it called depoliticised dialogue.
Its justice ministry then blocked the operations of 50 companies in May over suspected dealings with sanctioned partners, the first such move by the Kyrgyz authorities.
Kyrgyzstan sits in a customs union with Russia and hosts Russian military bases.
The 26th SCO summit brought together the leaders of the bloc’s 10 member states, with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov chairing the plenary session at the Ala-Archa state residence outside the capital.
Leaders were due to adopt a Bishkek Declaration marking the organisation’s 25th anniversary before Kyrgyzstan hands the rotating chair to Pakistan.
Modi and Putin held their first bilateral meeting of the year on August 31, reviewing energy, defence and trade ties a week after the 27th India-Russia intergovernmental commission met in Moscow.
Putin also held talks with Xi and with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country is six months into its war with the United States.
The EU adopted a 21st package against Russia on July 23, hitting more than 90 banks and crypto operators, several refineries in Russia and Belarus and dozens of vessels in the so-called shadow fleet.
Enforcement remains a matter for member states. An Austrian court last month convicted two men over a Vienna-based network that routed sanctioned machine tools to Russian arms firms through intermediaries including Kyrgyzstan.
