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Putin: Russia is united like never before

2023-07-04 22:09:03, Kosova & Bota CNA

NEW DELHI (AP) - President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the Russian people are "united as never before," seeking to build confidence after a short-lived revolt as he attended a meeting of an international organization that offered him an audience benevolent.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, hosted via video conference from India, was the first high-level multilateral meeting for President Putin since an armed insurgency rocked Russia and comes as he is eager to show that the West has failed him. isolate Moscow for its aggression against Ukraine in 2022.

The Asian security group, founded by Russia and China to counter Western alliances, also welcomed Iran as a new member, bringing its membership to nine countries.

Speaking via video from the Kremlin, Mr. Putin praised the organization for "playing an increasingly important role in international affairs, making a real contribution to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic growth of participating states and strengthening ties between peoples".

He thanked member states for supporting Russian authorities during the short-lived rebellion organized by Wagner's boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and said the West had turned Ukraine into "a practically hostile - anti-Russian state". Mr. Putin has often attacked the West for supporting Ukraine in the war.

The high-level meeting gave President Putin an opportunity to show he remains in control after the military effort left some question marks about divisions among Russia's elites.

"The Russian people are united as never before," he said. "Solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the motherland was clearly demonstrated by Russian political circles and the entire society by standing as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion."

Earlier speakers avoided direct references to the war, while raising concerns about its global ramifications.

A statement adopted at the virtual summit also did not refer to Ukraine, but said that threats and challenges "are becoming increasingly complex, destructive and dangerous, and that existing conflicts are worsening and new conflicts are emerging." ./ VOA