SCO Summit: Xi Welcomes Putin, Modi and Other Leaders

Vladimir Putin has arrived in China to a red-carpet greeting for the behind-closed-doors summit of an anti-Western coalition dubbed the “axis of upheaval”.

A top Kremlin aide said the two leaders held “detailed” discussions, including a debrief on a recent peace summit with Donald Trump, at what was the beginning of an unprecedented four-day overseas visit for Putin.

Yuri Ushakov said the Russian president would be the “main guest” at a military parade on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Putin is expected to attempt to solidify his alliance with Beijing, which has been vital for sustaining his war machine through the deliveries of components for drone and missile production.

He is likely to frame his calls for help as part of a mounting struggle between SCO member states and Western governments.

Before arriving in China, Putin criticised what he called “discriminatory” Western sanctions, which he said Moscow and Beijing jointly opposed.

His remarks were significant given that Narendra Modi, Indian prime minister, would be attending the summit in China days after the US imposed a 50 per cent tariff on New Delhi over its refusal to stop buying Russian oil.

Modi, who Putin is expected to meet on the sidelines of the SCO gathering, had skipped last year’s summit.

The Russian president is also scheduled to meet his Turkish, Serbian, Iranian, and Uzbek counterparts – Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Aleksandar Vučić, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Shavkat Mirziyoyev – for talks, according to the Kremlin.