Churov also said that the “preparation for elections of the Russian president is proceeding according to plans and no special difficulties are expected”, Itar-Tass reported.

Nurgaliyev noted for his part that the “SCO mission is only starting the international monitoring.” According to the official, only four representatives of the mission have so far come to Russia. The SCO secretary relied to an Itar-Tass question that the mission will consist of a total 14 observers representing China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. He did not rule out that representatives of Kyrgyzstan will also be included in the mission.