NEW DELHI (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the Russian people are “more united than ever” as they try to radiate confidence after a short-lived revolt, at a summit meeting of one of the few international organizations where they can count on a supportive audience.
The video conference summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, hosted by India, was the first multilateral summit since an armed rebellion rocked Russia, in which it strove to show that Western powers have failed to isolate Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Asian group, created by Russia and China as a counterweight to Western alliances, welcomed Iran, whose membership brought its membership to nine.
In a video-linked address from the Kremlin, Putin praised the organization for “fulfilling increasing importance in international affairs, making a real contribution to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic growth of the participating states and strengthening the ties between peoples”
He thanked members for supporting the Russian authorities during the brief mutiny led by the head of the Russian private paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, saying the West had turned Ukraine into “a virtually hostile, anti-Russian state.”
The summit is an opportunity for Putin to show that he is in control of the situation after an insurrection exposed certain divisions in the Russian elites.
“The Russian people are more united than ever,” he said. “Solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the homeland were demonstrated by Russian political circles and the entire society by presenting a united front against the attempted armed rebellion.”
The speakers who preceded him avoided directly alluding to the war, although they deplored its global consequences.
In his opening speech, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of global dangers to food, fuel and fertilizer supplies, but made no mention of the war in Ukraine. Trade between the three has been disrupted by the war.
