The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is capable of solving problems in its area independently but also stands ready for cooperation with other groups or countries, a Kremlin official said on Wednesday.

Speaking on the eve of the sixth SCO summit scheduled for Thursday in Shanghai, Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying that the summit will "pay special attention to the situation in Central Asia in the aspect of further consolidation of the organization."

"The SCO is capable of independently solving problems occurring in the area of its responsibility but is equally ready to cooperate with everybody outside the region based on the principle of equality," Prikhodko said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Shanghai Wednesday afternoon to attend the 2006 summit of the regional group which was established in Shanghai in 2001 and comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Prikhodko said the summit will assess the results of the organization's activities since its founding, review the implementation of the decisions adopted at the Astana summit in 2005 and map out clear guidelines for its future activities.

The Shanghai summit will be crowned by new agreements on broadening the potential of the organization and counteracting threats and challenges of the 21st century, and the leaders also plan to discuss economic cooperation among member countries, Prikhodko said.

Source: Xinhua