Xi and Putin round on West at regional summit in China

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. [AFP] Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin took turns Monday to swipe at the West during a gathering of Eurasian leaders for a showpiece summit aimed at putting Beijing front and centre of regional relations. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), comprising China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, is touted as a non-Western style of collaboration and seeks to be an alternative to traditional alliances. Xi told the SCO leaders, including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that the global international situation was becoming more "chaotic and intertwined". The Chinese leader also slammed "bullying behaviour" from certain countries -- a veiled reference to the United States. "The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging," he added in his address in the northern port city of Tianjin. "With the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit...and better perform the functions of the organisation," Xi said. Putin used his speech to defend Russia's Ukraine offensive, blaming the West for triggering the three-and-a-half year conflict that has killed tens of thousands and devastated much of eastern Ukraine. "This crisis wasn't triggered by Russia's attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West," Putin said. "The second reason for the crisis is the West's constant attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO." Meanwhile, Putin praised Turkey's mediation attempts around the Ukraine war during his first meeting this year with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday. Turkey has hosted three rounds of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine this year that have failed to break the deadlock over how to end the conflict. Earlier, leaders from the 10 SCO countries stood on a red carpet and posed for a group photo. Xi, Putin and Modi were seen on live footage chatting, the three leaders flanked by their translators. Modi and Putin, who were photographed holding hands, held talks in the afternoon. Russian state media reported the pair spent nearly an hour talking "face-to-face" in Putin's armoured presidential car before their official bilateral meeting. "Conversations with him are always insightful," Modi wrote on X along with a photograph of them travelling in the car. In opening comments before their meeting, Modi praised the "special and privileged strategic partnership" with Moscow. "India and Russia have stood shoulder to shoulder, even in the toughest situations," he said. On the conflict in Ukraine, Modi said India wanted both sides to end it "as soon as possible and to find stable peace". The SCO summit, which also involves 16 more countries as observers or "dialogue partners", kicked off on Sunday, days before a massive military parade in the capital Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II. The member states signed a declaration Monday, agreeing to strengthen cooperation in sectors such as security and economy, China's Xinhua news agency said. They also "unanimously agreed" to admit Laos as a "dialogue partner", Xinhua added. Putin touched down in Tianjin on Sunday with an entourage of senior politicians and business representatives. Xi held a flurry of back-to-back bilateral meetings with leaders including Lukashenko -- one of Putin's staunch allies -- and Modi, who is on his first visit to China since 2018. Modi told Xi that India was committed to taking "forward our ties on the basis of mutual trust, dignity and sensitivity". The world's two most populous nations are intense rivals, competing for influence across South Asia, and fought a deadly border clash in 2020. A thaw began last October, when Modi met Xi for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia. Their rapprochement deepened as US President Donald Trump pressured both Asian economic giants with trade tariffs. More than 20 leaders, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, are attending the bloc's largest meeting since its founding in 2001. Putin is expected to hold talks on Monday with Pezeshkian about Tehran's nuclear programme. Many of the assembled dignitaries will be in Beijing on Wednesday to watch the military parade, which will also be attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

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Xi and Putin round on West at regional summit in China

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