Putin, Xi hail stability of China-Russia partnership on SCO sidelines | Xi Jinping News

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have hailed their countries' partnership on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security bloc founded by the duo as a counterpoint to Western power.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, Putin and Xi welcomed the expansion of their membership, which includes Central Asian countries, as well as India, Iran and future member Belarus. They also continued to portray China-Russia relations as a stabilizing force in chaotic times.

Putin said that the SCO is strengthening its role as one of the pillars of a fair multipolar world order. However, he assured that cooperation is not directed against anyone, that we are not creating any blocs or alliances, that we are acting simply in the interests of our peoples.

In a televised address ahead of a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping, the Russian leader briefly touched on Moscow-Beijing relations. He said the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between the two countries is going through the best period in its history.

In turn, Xi referred to the turbulent international situation and external environment and said Russia and China should continue to uphold the original aspiration of friendship for generations to come.

He then called Putin an old friend and said the two countries had made plans and arrangements for the further development of bilateral relations.

The meeting between the two leaders, the second in two months, comes as China and Russia continue to face pressure from the West over their regional policies. At their last meeting in Beijing, the two leaders pledged to deepen ties, while taking veiled swipes at international organizations and blocs, including the United Nations, the Group of 20 and the North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO).

In total, the two leaders have met about 40 times. They notably signed an unlimited strategic partnership a few days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

China has been repeatedly criticized for what the United States and its Western allies have called its increasingly assertive actions in the Asia-Pacific region and its policies toward Taiwan, the self-ruled island it claims as its own.

Russia has sought to show that it is not isolated on the international stage in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, despite being the target of a torrent of sanctions and pressure from Western countries.

Shared optics

At the summit, Putin also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was among the observer countries attending the summit along with Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Turkey is a NATO member that has close trade and financial ties with Moscow and has presented itself as a potential mediator in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The Turkish presidency said Erdogan told Putin that Turkey could lay the foundations for a consensus to end the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, first with a ceasefire and then with peace.

A just peace that can satisfy both sides is possible, he added.

Later, Putin's spokesman said that Erdogan could not act as an intermediary in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Asked by a Russian television reporter whether Erdogan could take on such a role, Dmitry Peskov replied: “No, it is not possible,” the Tass news agency reported.

Belarus, a close Russian ally from which Russia partly staged its invasion of Ukraine, is also expected to formally join the SCO on Thursday.

In an interview with Kazakh state media, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the group was demonstrating to the world that there are alternative international platforms and different centers of power.

But many interests of member countries have remained stubbornly divergent since the SCO's creation in 2002.

Moscow and Beijing are competing for influence in Central Asia, which includes the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Only Turkmenistan is not a member of the SCO.

Despite decades of Russian influence, the resource-rich region has been central to Beijing's major economic and trade projects, including its flagship Belt and Road infrastructure project, designed to strengthen global trade routes to China.

Speaking to the Associated Press news agency, Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, noted that the SCO has significant security differences among its members.

However, he said the main value of the organisation lay in the prospect of bringing non-Western countries closer together.