Tianjin (TDI): Russian President Vladimir Putin used his address at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin on Monday to once again place responsibility for the war in Ukraine on the West and NATO.
Defending Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in February 2022, Putin claimed it was triggered by a Western-backed coup in Kyiv and NATO’s push to expand influence eastward. He described Ukraine’s 2014 Euromaidan protests, which led to the ousting of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych, as “a coup supported and provoked by the West.”
“The second reason for the crisis is the West’s constant attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO,” Putin added.
The Russian leader’s remarks came ahead of his bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where he was expected to brief Xi on Russia-US discussions held in Alaska last month. Putin suggested that understandings reached at that meeting could “open the way to peace in Ukraine.”
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At the same summit, Xi announced plans to speed up the establishment of an SCO development bank and pledged $1.4 billion in loans over three years to member states. He argued the organization should expand its agenda beyond security and adapt to “more complex and turbulent” global conditions.
“The member states are facing more arduous safety and development responsibilities,” Xi said, urging nations to reject “Cold War mentality, bloc-based confrontation and bullying,” and instead support “an equal and orderly multipolar world”.
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Heads of state from 10 SCO member countries, including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, joined the Tianjin gathering. Many are also expected in Beijing on Wednesday for Xi’s military parade marking 80 years since China’s victory over Japan in World War II. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Putin are both scheduled to attend.
