Thursday, 04 September, 2025
Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin took turns on Monday to criticise the West during a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, in a showcase aimed at cementing Beijing’s role at the centre of regional affairs.
The SCO, comprising China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, promotes a non-Western model of cooperation and positions itself as an alternative to traditional alliances.
Addressing the assembly in Tianjin, Xi warned that the global situation had grown more “chaotic and intertwined,” condemning the “bullying behaviour” of certain countries — a thinly veiled reference to the United States. “The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging,” he said. “With the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit and better perform the functions of the organisation.”
Putin used his speech to defend Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, blaming the West for triggering the conflict that has raged for over three years, killing tens of thousands and devastating eastern Ukraine. “This crisis wasn’t triggered by Russia’s attack, but by a coup in Ukraine, supported and provoked by the West,” he claimed. “The second reason is the West’s constant attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO.”
Putin also praised Turkey’s mediation efforts, meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the first time this year. Turkey has hosted three rounds of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, though a resolution remains elusive.
Earlier, SCO leaders posed for a group photo on the red carpet. Xi, Putin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi were seen chatting with their translators. Russian state media reported that Putin and Modi held a nearly hour-long “face-to-face” discussion inside Putin’s armoured presidential car before their official meeting. Modi posted a photo on X, calling talks “always insightful,” and praised the “special and privileged strategic partnership” between India and Russia. On Ukraine, Modi urged both sides to end the conflict “as soon as possible and to find stable peace.”
The summit, which also involves 16 observer and dialogue partner countries, began Sunday, days ahead of a massive Beijing military parade marking 80 years since the end of World War II. On Monday, SCO members signed a declaration to strengthen cooperation in security and economic sectors and unanimously agreed to admit Laos as a dialogue partner.
Xi also held bilateral meetings with leaders including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Modi, who is on his first visit to China since 2018. Modi told Xi India is committed to advancing bilateral ties “on the basis of mutual trust, dignity and sensitivity.” Relations between the world’s two most populous nations have long been tense, including a deadly border clash in 2020, though rapprochement began last October at a summit in Russia and was reinforced amid U.S. trade pressure.
More than 20 leaders, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, attended the SCO’s largest meeting since its 2001 founding. Putin is expected to hold separate talks with Pezeshkian on Tehran’s nuclear programme. Many leaders will also attend Wednesday’s Beijing military parade, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to join after travelling by train from Pyongyang on Tuesday.
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Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin took turns on Monday to criticise the West during a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, in a showcase aimed at cementing Beijing’s role at the centre of regional affairs.
The SCO, comprising China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, promotes a non-Western model of cooperation and positions itself as an alternative to traditional alliances.
Addressing the assembly in Tianjin, Xi warned that the global situation had grown more “chaotic and intertwined,” condemning the “bullying behaviour” of certain countries — a thinly veiled reference to the United States. “The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging,” he said. “With the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit and better perform the functions of the organisation.”
Putin used his speech to defend Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, blaming the West for triggering the conflict that has raged for over three years, killing tens of thousands and devastating eastern Ukraine. “This crisis wasn’t triggered by Russia’s attack, but by a coup in Ukraine, supported and provoked by the West,” he claimed. “The second reason is the West’s constant attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO.”
Putin also praised Turkey’s mediation efforts, meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the first time this year. Turkey has hosted three rounds of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, though a resolution remains elusive.
Earlier, SCO leaders posed for a group photo on the red carpet. Xi, Putin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi were seen chatting with their translators. Russian state media reported that Putin and Modi held a nearly hour-long “face-to-face” discussion inside Putin’s armoured presidential car before their official meeting. Modi posted a photo on X, calling talks “always insightful,” and praised the “special and privileged strategic partnership” between India and Russia. On Ukraine, Modi urged both sides to end the conflict “as soon as possible and to find stable peace.”
The summit, which also involves 16 observer and dialogue partner countries, began Sunday, days ahead of a massive Beijing military parade marking 80 years since the end of World War II. On Monday, SCO members signed a declaration to strengthen cooperation in security and economic sectors and unanimously agreed to admit Laos as a dialogue partner.
Xi also held bilateral meetings with leaders including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Modi, who is on his first visit to China since 2018. Modi told Xi India is committed to advancing bilateral ties “on the basis of mutual trust, dignity and sensitivity.” Relations between the world’s two most populous nations have long been tense, including a deadly border clash in 2020, though rapprochement began last October at a summit in Russia and was reinforced amid U.S. trade pressure.
More than 20 leaders, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, attended the SCO’s largest meeting since its 2001 founding. Putin is expected to hold separate talks with Pezeshkian on Tehran’s nuclear programme. Many leaders will also attend Wednesday’s Beijing military parade, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to join after travelling by train from Pyongyang on Tuesday.
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