SCO summit in Tianjin: China, Russia, and India strengthen relations

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)—which includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—is accelerating its push to establish itself as a geopolitical counterweight to the West.

Starting September 15, Russia and China will allow visa-free travel for Russians into China for up to 30 days, a temporary one-year arrangement that signals tightening integration between Moscow and Beijing. At the same time, Gazprom and China signed a memorandum to construct the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline and a transit pipeline through Soyuz-East Mongolia. Once complete, this energy corridor will allow for the supply of 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year, while boosting existing Power of Siberia capacity to 44 billion cubic meters annually.

The Tianjin summit also carried a loud political message. Both Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin declared the decline of what they called the “American dictate” and openly promoted the creation of a new world order. The SCO laid out a long-term strategy through 2035, covering everything from energy integration to digital economies and artificial intelligence. By 2030, members aim to establish a common fuel and electricity market, while China announced the creation of a SCO Development Bank and pledged $1.4 billion in funding. Putin, for his part, proposed issuing joint bonds to solidify economic ties.

The bloc is also projecting itself as a political-military counterbalance. Iran’s recent strikes in the Middle East drew condemnation from the United States and Israel, but within the SCO, they were interpreted as a sign that member states are ready to present themselves as a unified front against Western military power. China and Russia are using the SCO as a “highway” to pull in Iran, India, Pakistan, and Central Asia—effectively covering most of Eurasia under their sphere of influence.

Notably, Turkey participated in Tianjin as a “dialogue partner”—the only NATO member involved in the organization’s activities. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has hinted for years at the possibility of full membership, seeing the SCO as leverage to show Brussels and Washington that Ankara has alternatives.

The SCO is increasingly positioning itself as more than a regional club. It seeks to evolve into an anti-Western bloc with its own banking system, energy market, security cooperation, and even cultural initiatives—a vision that, if realized, would challenge Western dominance across multiple domains.

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to show his refusal to compromise on his demands for Ukraine’s full capitulation

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, on September 1, Vladimir Putin once again repeated the Kremlin’s longstanding narratives about the war in Ukraine. He claimed that the conflict was not the result of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, but rather the consequence of what he called a Western-provoked “coup” in 2014—a direct reference to Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, which in reality was a democratic uprising against corruption and authoritarianism.

Putin framed the Revolution as the removal of leaders who resisted NATO integration, arguing that the West’s attempts to bring Ukraine closer to NATO posed a direct threat to Russian security. He insisted that “true peace” in Ukraine could only come through eliminating what he called the “root causes” of the war—phrasing that the Kremlin has repeatedly used to justify demands for a neutral Ukraine, an end to NATO’s Open Door Policy, and ultimately the replacement of Kyiv’s elected leadership with a pro-Russian puppet government.

By repeating these claims personally, Putin reinforced the Kremlin’s broader message that Ukraine’s current government is illegitimate and that Russian objectives have not changed since the start of the invasion. His remarks signal that Moscow still views regime change in Kyiv, NATO rollback, and Ukraine’s enforced neutrality as the central conditions for ending the war on Russia’s terms.

Putin and Zelensky are not ready for face-to-face meeting - Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Sept. 2 that neither Vladimir Putin nor Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to hold direct talks at this stage. Erdogan’s remarks came after his Sept. 1 meeting with Putin in China and a phone call with Zelensky. He noted that while earlier negotiations in Istanbul show a path to peace exists, conditions for a leaders’ summit have not yet materialized.

Erdogan emphasized Turkey’s support for gradually elevating talks, but acknowledged the current deadlock.

The statement comes against the backdrop of U.S. efforts to mediate. After an Aug. 15 summit with Putin in Alaska, President Donald Trump announced he was working to arrange a Zelensky-Putin meeting. Following Aug. 18 talks in Washington, Zelensky reiterated Kyiv’s readiness for unconditional high-level negotiations with Moscow.

Background:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov countered on Aug. 22 that such a meeting was “not ready at all,” accusing Ukraine of rejecting Moscow’s preconditions and questioning Zelensky’s legitimacy.

Ukrainian officials have indicated that a face-to-face summit is unlikely unless Washington increases pressure on Putin. Trump suggested on Aug. 25 that the Russian president is avoiding a meeting simply because “he doesn’t like” Zelensky.