Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday defended his Ukraine offensive while blaming the West for triggering the three-and-a-half-year war that has killed tens of thousands and devastated much of eastern Ukraine.
“This crisis was not triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West,” Putin said at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Chinese city of Tianjin, news agencies reported.
Putin was referring to Ukraine’s 2013-2014 pro-European revolution, which ousted a pro-Russian president.
Moscow had then responded by annexing the Crimean peninsula and backing pro-Russian separatists in the east, triggering a civil war.
“The second reason for the crisis is the West’s constant attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO,” the Russian president said.
Putin was speaking at the SCO summit, which was attended by Russian allies, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Moscow and Beijing have touted the SCO as an alternative to Western-led political and security blocs, including NATO.
Putin said the world needed a “system that would replace outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models, and take into account the interests of the widest circle of countries”.
“We highly value the efforts and proposals of China, India and our other strategic partners, aimed at contributing to resolving the Ukrainian crisis,” he added.
Despite US President Donald Trump’s urging Moscow and Kyiv to reach an agreement to end the war, peace proposals have floundered.
Putin has rejected calls for a ceasefire and tabled hardline territorial and political demands – calling for Ukraine to cede more territory and renounce Western backing – as preconditions for peace.
Kyiv has ruled them out as non-starters. The Russian leader said he would discuss the diplomacy to end the conflict and his latest talks with Trump in a series of bilateral meetings.