Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China on 1/9, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the West tried to bring Ukraine into its orbit before seeking to have Kyiv join NATO.

"To sustainably and permanently resolve the Ukraine issue, the root causes of the crisis need to be eliminated. This is what I just mentioned and have repeatedly emphasized," Putin said, adding that "a reasonable balance in the security field" also needs to be restored.

The Russian leader revealed that issues he agreed upon with former U.S. President Donald Trump at their Alaska summit last month paved the way for peace in Ukraine. He said he would discuss this issue with leaders attending the SCO summit.

"We appreciate the efforts and proposals of China and India to facilitate the resolution of the Ukraine crisis," Putin said. "I hope the agreements reached at the recent summit in Alaska will also contribute to this goal."

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the SCO summit in Tianjin, China, on 1/9. Photo: AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the SCO summit in Tianjin, China, on 1/9. Photo: AP

Putin said he had discussed the Alaska meeting's outcomes in detail with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as the "ongoing" efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. He said he would provide further information in bilateral talks with Chinese and other leaders.

At its 2008 summit, NATO agreed to eventually admit Georgia and Ukraine, but did not specify a timeframe. In 2019, Ukraine amended its constitution to include the goal of becoming a full member of NATO and the European Union (EU).

When Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in early 2022, it stated that one of its goals was to prevent NATO's eastward expansion. Reuters reported in May that one of Putin's conditions for ending the operation in Ukraine was a written commitment from the West to halt this expansion, along with the partial lifting of sanctions against Russia.

Putin's new statement comes as peace talks on the Ukraine conflict have stalled, with the possibility of a Russia-Ukraine summit becoming increasingly unlikely despite initial optimism.

The leaders of France and Germany on 29/9 threatened to push for new sanctions against Russia if Putin did not agree to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart. The Kremlin said Putin did not rule out the possibility, but that such a meeting needed thorough preparation to "complete the work that needs to be done at the expert level first."

Pham Giang (Reuters)