Putin says Russia is ‘united as never before’ during Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting

NEW DELHI — President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the Russian people are “united as never before,” seeking to project confidence in the wake of a short-lived revolt while participating in a meeting of an international organization that offered him a sympathetic audience. Speaking by video link from the Kremlin, Putin praised the organization for “playing an increasingly significant role in international affairs, making a real contribution to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic growth of the participating states, and strengthening ties between peoples.” He thanked the member states for supporting Russian authorities during the short-lived mutiny mounted by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, and said the West had turned Ukraine into “a virtually hostile state — anti-Russia.” Putin has frequently lashed out at the West for its support of Ukraine in the war. A declaration adopted at the virtual summit also made no reference to Ukraine, but it said threats and challenges are ``becoming more and more complex, destructive and dangerous, existing conflicts are aggravating and new conflicts are emerging.” In his opening speech, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of global challenges to food, fuel and fertilizer supplies but didn’t mention the war in Ukraine. “Any temptation to use it as a cudgel for diplomatic point scoring must be eschewed.” Sharif also hailed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, saying it could be a “game changer for connectivity, stability, peace and prosperity in the region.” Six of the nine SCO members — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — reaffirmed their support for the BRI initiative, the declaration said. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that “the benefits of the official membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the SCO will be historic.” Raisi’s speech, cited by the Iranian news agency IRNA, expressed the hope that membership will prepare the ground for improving collective security, respect for the sovereignty of member nations, sustainable development, and confronting environmental threats.