Russian President Vladimir Putin today welcomed the new "multipolar world" during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit dedicated to the conflict in Ukraine, while its ally Belarus became the newest member of the security and defense organization, DPA reported.
In the Kazakh capital Astana, Putin said Russia had always advocated a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine, which began with the Russian invasion in February 2022, and indicated that Moscow had presented a number of proposals for peace.
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During the conference, the Russian leader held talks with several heads of state, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Kazakh counterpart Kassam-Jomart Tokaev. According to Chinese state television, during their bilateral meeting, Xi once again assured Putin that he would continue to work for a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the talks with China as very successful. He said on Russian state television that both sides had agreed that peace talks on the conflict in Ukraine made no sense without Russia, after Moscow was not invited to a Kiev-initiated summit in Switzerland in mid-June.< /p>
China, which has presented its own peace plan to end the war, also did not take part in the meeting in Switzerland.
Putin said Russia was grateful to the SCO countries for their offer to resolve the conflict and again accused the US and its allies of causing the war.
New World Order
During his war against Ukraine and subsequent tensions with the West, Putin has repeatedly stated his ambitions for a new world order in which the US will no longer have a dominant role.
"The multipolar world has already become a reality," he stressed in his speech at the summit.
Putin expressed his belief that members of the SCO, founded in 2001 to fight terrorism and including Asian powers such as India, Pakistan, Iran and the Central Asian states of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, can become the cornerstones of a a reimagined global system, along with the influential BRICS group, including Brazil and South Africa.
China will take over the next presidency of the SCO until 2025, Chinese state television reported. In his speech, Xi called on member states to strengthen their unity and jointly oppose "external influences" in the face of challenges. The Chinese leader said the SCO community is on the "right side of history, fairness and justice".
Today, Belarus officially joined the SCO. Putin, Xi and other state leaders signed documents in Astana for the acceptance of the Eastern European country.
Kazakhstan Prime Minister Tokayev, who chaired the summit, congratulated Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, considered the last dictator in Europe, DPA notes.
Minsk is an unchanging ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine, without directly intervening in it.
However, the absence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was notable. According to the Kremlin, Modi did not attend the summit but plans to visit Russia afterwards.