Sino-Russian relations since

President Xi Jinping will host a two-day summit with the leaders of five Central Asian nations next week, Beijing said on Monday, as China moves to increase its influence in the region.

Leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to attend the China-Central Asia Summit from May 18 to 19, said China's foreign ministry.

Day 392 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Russia and China have reached an agreement on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which will connect Siberia to northwest China, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

"All agreements have been reached," Putin said, adding that economic cooperation between Moscow and Beijing was a "priority" for Russia.

Xi Jinping said this at an informal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

Turkey and Russia's bilateral trade should reach the target jointly adopted by the two countries' leaders of $100 billion "as soon as possible", the Turkish trade minister said on July 26.

Russia's Gazprom is looking to gain an even larger gas market share in Europe following record-high 2018 exports, expecting a decline in Europe's gas output combined with rising demand, a senior manager at the company has said.

Russia will start supplying gas to China through a new pipeline by the end of 2019, state gas giant Gazprom said on July 4, as part of a mammoth $400-billion deal.

"Today a deal was signed...about the date of the start of gas deliveries through the 'Power of Siberia' pipeline. It is December 20, 2019," Gazprom boss Alexei Miller told journalists.

India and Russia have signed an accord on the basis of which Moscow will supply advanced S-400 air defence systems to the South Asian country. Although the Russian Defence Ministry is yet to confirm the deal, Indian officials have said that the delivery will take place “as soon as possible”. According to sources close to

China will enhance its cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe by establishing an investment fund worth $3 billion, the Chinese Prime Minister told regional leaders attending a summit in Serbia on Tuesday.

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Officials from Moscow and Beijing signed on Sunday 17 documents on cooperation.

Among them is a memorandum envisaging the supply of gas from a depot in West Siberia through the so-called Power of Siberia pipeline.