Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he discussed the outcome of the August summit in Alaska with Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping and “other leaders.” Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, the Kremlin chief claimed the Ukraine crisis was “not sparked by the invasion” but by the “2014 coup in Kiev supported by Ukraine’s Western allies” and subsequent Western attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO.
Putin said he “appreciates the efforts” of China and India to resolve the conflict. He asserted that a solution “requires addressing the root causes and restoring a balance of security,” reiterating the Russian principle that “no country can guarantee its security at the expense of others.” He identified the “continuous” attempts by the West to involve Kiev in NATO as a primary cause of the conflict.
The SCO member states, in the ensuing Tianjin Declaration, expressed support for the “right of peoples to independently and democratically choose their own paths of political and socio-economic development.” The declaration promotes principles of “mutual respect for sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, equality, mutual benefit, non-interference in internal affairs, and the non-threat or use of force” as the basis for sustainable international relations. The bloc, promoted by China and Russia, is positioned as an alternative to the US-led Western model.
In other developments at the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Putin in a bilateral meeting that India welcomes “all recent efforts made for peace” and called for a way to be found “to end the conflict as soon as possible and establish lasting peace.” Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a programmatic speech, criticized “hegemonism and the power politics” creating a “world fraught with turbulence and change,” urging leaders to adhere to “equity and justice” and reject a “Cold War mentality.”