Russian President Vladimir Putin said today in his speech at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries in the Chinese metropolis of Tianjin that “Western attempts to bring Ukraine into NATO are one of the causes of the Ukrainian crisis“, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The crisis in Ukraine, he said, did not arise because of an “invasion“, but as a result of a coup d'état in Kiev, supported by Ukraine's Western allies. Putin added that he appreciated the efforts of China and India to resolve the crisis.
The Russian president indicated that he had discussed with the leaders of the SCO countries his meeting with his American counterpart Donald Trump in Alaska on August 15.
Chinese President Xi Jinping gathered today the leaders of Russia, India, Turkey and Iran, as well as a number of Eurasian leaders, for a summit designed to put China at the center of geostrategic competition, AFP reported.
The meeting, described as the most important since the SCO was founded in 2001, comes against the backdrop of multiple crises that directly affect its members:
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the United States' trade confrontation with China and India,
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the war in Ukraine,
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and the Iranian nuclear dispute.