ASTANA, July 3. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has opened a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, starting with talks with his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh.

The leaders previously met last October in Beijing. They discussed both economic and humanitarian cooperation.

Putin is scheduled to hold talks with the heads of at least six countries, namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Turkey and Pakistan. A meeting with the Iranian acting president will also take place tomorrow.

According to the Kremlin, the talks will be held jointly with delegations, then "switched to tete-a-tete" if necessary.