Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed the new "multipolar world" at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) focused on the conflict in Ukraine, as his ally Belarus became the latest member of the security and defence organization.
Putin argued in the Kazakh capital Astana that Russia has always advocated a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine - which began with the Russian invasion in February 2022 - and stated that Moscow had put forward a number of proposals to achieve peace.
The Russian leader held talks with several heads of state at the conference, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
According to Chinese state television, Xi once again assured Putin at their bilateral meeting that he would continue to work towards 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 negotiations in the conflict over Ukraine made no sense without Russia, after Moscow was left out of a peace summit initiated by Ukraine in Switzerland in mid-June.
China, which has presented its own peace plan to end the war, also stayed away from the Swiss meeting.
Putin said Russia is grateful to the SCO states for their proposals to resolve the conflict, while again accusing the United States and its allies of having caused the war.
A new world order
In the course of his war against Ukraine and ensuing tensions with the West, Putin has repeatedly declared his ambitions for a new world order in which the US no longer plays a dominant role.
"The multipolar world has already become a reality," he said in his summit speech.
Putin expressed his belief that the members of the SCO - which was founded in 2001 to combat terrorism and includes Asian powers such as India, Pakistan, Iran and the Central Asian states of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - can become the cornerstones of a reimagined global system, alongside heavyweights of the BRICS group such as Brazil and South Africa.
China will assume the next chairmanship of the SCO through 2025, Chinese state television reported. In his speech, Xi called on the member nations to consolidate their unity and jointly resist "external influences" in the face of challenges.
The Chinese leader said the SCO community is on the "right side of history, fairness and justice."
Belarus joins the SCO
Belarus on Thursday officially joined the SCO, as Putin, Xi and other state leaders signed documents in Astana to admit the Eastern European country.
Kazakhstan's Tokayev, who was chairing the summit, congratulated Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, widely regarded as Europe's last dictator.
Belarus has been a steadfast ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine, without directly intervening.
One notable absence from the talks, however, was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi did not attend the summit, but plans to visit Russia afterwards, according to the Kremlin.
