The leaders of Russia and China attend the summit of the regional security group

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the EA summit on Thursday security grouping created by Moscow and Beijing to oppose Western alliances.

Putin and Xi joined leaders of other countries that are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at its annual meeting in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.

The group was established in 2001 by China, Russia and the four former Soviet Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to promote regional security and economic cooperation. It was later joined by India, Pakistan and Iran. Russia's western neighbor and ally, Belarus, joined the SCO on Thursday.

Observer states and dialogue partners include Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Addressing the summit, Putin emphasized the group's focus on ensuring the security of its members and said the SCO will form a dedicated center that will coordinate the response to various security challenges. He added that members of the group will also adopt a special program to fight separatism and extremism.

Xi called on SCO members to show solidarity in the face of real challenges of interference and polarization, according to a reading of his speech by the official Xinhua news agency.

In the face of the real threat of the Cold War mentality, we must maintain the margin of safety, he added.

In addition to Putin and Xi, and summit host Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Thursday's meeting includes Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, President Emomali Rakhmon of Tajikistan, President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan and President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent his foreign minister. Indian media reports speculated that the recently re-elected Modi was busy with the parliament session that began last week.

Iran is still choosing a successor to the President Ebrahim Raisikilled in a helicopter crash in May, with a election runoff On Friday, acting president Mohammad Mokhbar attended the summit.

During a meeting Thursday with the Russian leader on the sidelines of the summit, Mokhber delivered a message to Putin from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying the deep and unchanging relationship between the two allies would remain strong regardless of the election. Mokhber added that the strong ties between Moscow and Tehran have changed “the power equations in the world.

Other guests of the SCO were President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

Also present was the Secretary General of the UN, Antnio Guterres, who is visiting Central Asia.

For Putin, the summit provided another venue to demonstrate the failure of Western efforts to isolate Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at the summit on Thursday, Putin recalled his statement in June that hostilities could end if Ukraine withdraws its troops from the four regions Moscow annexed in 2022 and abandons its bid to join NATO. Kiev and its allies have rejected this idea.

Putin also thanked SCO members for their proposals for a peace settlement, adding that Moscow will take them into account.

Moscow has greeted one peace plan for Ukraine offered by China last year, which was rejected by both Ukraine and the West for failing to call for Russia to withdraw from occupied parts of Ukraine.

Putin later told Russian reporters that he has noted claims by Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate in the US presidential election, that he can resolve the Ukraine crisis and said: We take this quite seriously. However, he said he has no details on what Trump might propose.

In a meeting with Xi on Wednesday, Putin hailed the SCO as one of the main pillars of a just and multipolar world order and said ties between Moscow and Beijing are experiencing the best period in their history.

It marked their second meeting in as many months after Putin's visit to China, which highlighted Beijing political support for Moscow amid Western sanctions and China's role as the main market for Russian oil and gas. Russia has also relied on Beijing as a major source of high-tech imports to keep its military machine running.

The SCO helps China project its influence, especially across Central Asia and Central Asia Global South. Xi called for bridges of communication between the countries last week and wants to further promote China as an alternative to the US and its allies.

For host Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries, the meeting is a way to further their cooperation with larger and more powerful neighbors. Kazakhstan, for example, often engages with neighboring Russia and China, while also pursuing ties with the West.

Speaking in the opening speech at the summit, Tokayev hailed the SCO as one of the most authoritative and influential international structures.