Speaking at a summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin on Monday, Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to reiterate his claim that Western countries and NATO are responsible for Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. He then went on to suggest that his recent talks with U.S. President Donald Trump could help bring about a peace settlement.
Putin arrived in China on August 31, joining some 20 other foreign leaders for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit hosted by Xi Jinping. He is also scheduled to attend a military parade in Beijing on September 3, which will mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.
During a leaders’ meeting on Monday, Xi condemned the “shadows of Cold War mentality” and geopolitical “bullying,” calling instead for deeper economic integration among SCO members and the formation of a global order with multiple power centers. However, he stopped short of explicitly mentioning the United States. Putin echoed these sentiments in his own address, but didn’t hesitate to lay blame on the West. Here’s what he said.
Putin opened his speech at Monday’s SCO Heads of State Council Meeting by invoking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the founding of the United Nations. The principles of the U.N. Charter “remain valid and unshakable to this day,” he said. “The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is also built on these very principles,” Putin continued. “It brings together like-minded partners committed to shaping a just, multipolar world order.”
Putin went on to tout the SCO’s achievements, claiming that the organization is “steadily increasing its influence” on the world stage and fostering “an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual trust” among countries across Eurasia.
In doing so, it helps lay the political and socioeconomic foundations for a new system of stability, security and peaceful development in Eurasia — a system that would replace outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models, take into account the interests of the widest possible range of countries, and be genuinely balanced, thus preventing attempts by some states to ensure their own security at the expense of others.
Putin then addressed Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which he referred to as a “crisis.” Reiterating the Kremlin’s usual talking points, Putin blamed Western countries and the NATO alliance for what he considers the war’s “root causes” — namely Ukraine’s 2014 Euromaidan Revolution and “the West’s constant efforts to drag Ukraine into NATO.”
“It is worth recalling that as a result of the 2014 coup in Ukraine, the country’s political leadership that opposed NATO membership was removed from power,” he said, referring to the ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.
At the same time, Putin dangled the possibility of a peace settlement resulting from his August 15 meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. “We highly value the efforts and proposals of China, India, and other strategic partners aimed at facilitating a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” he said. “I would note that the understandings reached at the recent Russian–U.S. summit in Alaska, I hope, are also moving in this direction, paving the way towards peace in Ukraine.”
Putin said he planned to brief the other leaders attending the summit on the “results” of his talks with Trump, adding that he had already discussed the “agreements reached” with China’s Xi Jinping “in detail.”
“Naturally, for a Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and lasting, the root causes of the crisis that I have just mentioned, and have spoken about many times before, must be addressed, and a fair balance in the sphere of security must be restored,” he added.
We usually do the talking at fundraisers. This time, we’ll let our readers speak for us. “Dear stranger, if you can support Meduza on our behalf, please do. And we’ll be here supporting our fellow citizens who are being persecuted and stripped of their freedom by Russian authorities. Thank you to everyone who helps journalists tell the truth, talk about things that matter to society, and give us the information we need to grow and persevere.” — Yulia
