IRKUTSK, December 1. /TASS/. Russia has invited athletes from Mongolia to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summer Games in Russia next year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said on Monday.
"We will be pleased to host Mongolian athletes at the Summer Games of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states, which Russia will organize next year," Overchuk said at the first Forum of Regions of Mongolia and Russia in Irkutsk.
Earlier this year, Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev, who is also the president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), announced that Russia would host the 2026 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summer Games and the tournament will be held in several cities across the country.
Besides inviting Mongolian athletes to the 2026 SCO Summer Games, Overchuk highlighted the development of close ties between Russia and Mongolia, particularly in the sphere of education. According to him, during the current fiscal year, Russia increased a quota of Mongolian students at Russian higher education establishments to 620.
"In September this year a bulk of educational literature was delivered to Mongolia under the Rossotrudnichestvo agency sponsored events," Overchuk stated, adding that more than 17,000 copies of textbooks in Russian would soon be sent to Mongolia.
Rossotrudnichestvo is a leading Russian agency whose main mission is to strengthen Russia’s humanitarian influence in the world. The organization is represented in 71 countries of the world by 87 foreign missions. Since 2021, they have received the informal name "Russian House".
The first Forum of Regions of Mongolia and Russia is taking place in Russia’s Siberian city of Irkutsk on December 1-2.