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The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has made a keynote speech to the Heads of State attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation annual summit in Tianjin, China. He discussed the ending of World War II in Asia, the roles and cooperation of the SCO, reform at the United Nations, the new SCO 2035 Strategy, Intra-SCO trade, financial services development, de-dollarisation and alternatives, the creation of an SCO bank, the digitisation of Eurasian transport infrastructure, the SCO University, Ukraine, terrorism, and relations with the United States.
We provide the full text of what he had to say together with our analysis. President Putin’s comments are prefixed VP, ours are prefixed RPA.
VP: “President Xi Jinping, friends; I would like to join my colleagues in commending the excellent work carried out by China during its chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
This year holds special significance for all our nations. On May 9, Moscow hosted celebrations marking the anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the defeat of Nazi Germany. The day after tomorrow, large-scale events will take place in Beijing to commemorate the victory over Japanese militarism and the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The defeat of Nazism and militarism was made possible through the unity of peoples across many countries. Out of the outcome of World War II came the United Nations, which is also celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.
The UN Charter enshrined fundamental principles: the primacy of international law, the right of nations to self-determination, sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, and respect for the independence and national interests of every state. These principles remain valid and unshakable to this day.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is also built on these very principles. It brings together like-minded partners committed to shaping a just, multipolar world order. For this meeting of the Council of Heads of State, a substantial package of documents has been prepared. Chief among them, the Tianjin Declaration reflects the agreed approaches of member states to pressing issues on the global and regional agenda.”
RPA: It is of note that Putin compared the UN Charter with the SCO Charter. Russia, China, India and many other countries have been pushing for reform at the UN, and especially within its Security Council, of which India, a significant economy and nuclear power, is not a member, neither is Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, nor any African continental representation. Clearly this needs to change, with the SCO itself looking to be a driver for that reform. It is worth examining the SCO charter for clues as to potential future change at the UN.
VP: “I would also highlight the SCO Development Strategy Through 2035, which we are adopting today. It defines the main directions of the Organisation’s work in politics, the economy, security and humanitarian issues.”
RPA: Putin didn’t go into much detail of the SCO 2035 Strategy because at the time of his speech it had not been formally agreed. The SCO Development Strategy to 2035 follows on from earlier ten-year SCO strategy to 2025 which has now run its course. However, the 2035 Strategy has now been approved and defines the SCO’s goals and objectives, as well as the methods for the organization to achieve them by 2035.
Based on the principles and values of the SCO, the document outlines tasks for strengthening mutual trust and good-neighbourliness among member states; jointly countering security challenges and threats within the SCO region; and deepening practical cooperation in trade, economy, finance, and investments, among other areas. The outcomes of China’s presidency in the SCO will be reflected in the SCO Tianjin Declaration. As soon as this document is released, we will provide an overview and analysis.
A package of documents on cooperation in various fields was also adopted. These include the SCO Program of Cooperation on Countering Extremist Ideology for 2026–2030 and the Roadmap for the Implementation of the Energy Cooperation Development Strategy until 2030.
In membership matters, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was granted observer status within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), while Laos was formally granted the status of an SCO partner. A decision was also made within the SCO to merge the categories of “observer” and “dialogue partner” into a single category, “Shanghai Cooperation Organization Partner”. This move is intended to optimize the SCO’s international cooperation system.
VP: “The pace of cooperation within the SCO is truly impressive. For example, last year the average GDP growth of member states exceeded 5%, while industrial output rose by 4.6%. Mutual trade continues to grow steadily. All these indicators are above the global average.” (ed: the IMF predicts global growth to be about 3% for 2025).
“National currencies are being used more and more widely in mutual settlements. We advocate the issuance of joint bonds by the SCO member states, the establishment of our own payment, settlement and depository infrastructure, and the creation of a bank for joint investment projects. These measures will increase the efficiency of our economic exchanges and protect them from external market fluctuations.”
RPA: About 90% of intra-SCO trade has been de-dollarized, a significant volume given that the SCO collective GDP is US$59.1 trillion in actual (nominal) terms. The effort is aimed at bypassing Western sanctions, reduce costs, and promote regional economic integration by leveraging national currencies like the Russian Ruble, Indian Rupee and Chinese RMB Yuan, alongside initiatives such as common digital currency platforms and alternative payment gateways such as Russia’s SPFS.
China has proposed the launch of a digital trading platform within the SCO to bypass the US dollar, while there is a push to give preference to SCO-based payment gateways like UnionPay (China), Mir (Russia) and RuPay (India) over Western counterparts like Mastercard and Visa.
Russia and China have developed parallel payment systems to SWIFT to facilitate local currency settlements. Emerging technologies such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) also offer potential for seamless, cost-effective cross-border payments without traditional intermediaries.
Also of note was the statement that the SCO was to develop its own bank, presumably an investment bank for regional projects along similar lines to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New Development Bank. We see this as potentially being more focused on regional transportation infrastructure, with a particular emphasis of utilizing Public-Private Partnerships to encourage both state and private sector investment.
VP: “Within the SCO, an extensive and competitive transport infrastructure is steadily taking shape. Road, rail and multimodal cargo traffic is growing. Close customs cooperation has been established, and electronic document flow is being actively introduced.”
RPA: Intra-Eurasian transport and connectivity is a highly complex subject that includes numerous supply chain routes, including the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Middle Corridor, the Northern Sea Route and many other subsidiary parts. The Eurasian Development Bank has estimated the cost of these projects at US$234 billion. While infrastructure is being built, it is also being digitized, unifying customs administration so that cross-border rail and road freight will eventually not need to be stopped and examined at borders, significantly reducing administration costs and delivery times.
VP: “The SCO energy cooperation strategy until 2030, which we approved last year, is now being implemented in full. The sectoral roadmap we are adopting today builds on that strategy and is aimed at pursuing a coordinated and balanced energy policy across the entire SCO space.”
RPA: The SCO 2030 energy strategy document defines the key areas of cooperation between the SCO member states in the energy sector, including prospects for the development of the transit potential of energy resources and the possibility of diversifying export routes; formation of a new energy system with a balance of industry development priorities; modernization of traditional energy sources, systemic improvement of the industry; development of innovative technologies and science in the field of use of renewable energy sources, development of hydrogen energy; searching for new solutions in the field of energy saving and increasing energy efficiency. It unites the largest producers, transit countries and consumers of energy resources.
It has also resulted in Russia reaching long-term, legally binding, contractual agreements with energy consumers such as China and India, which is one reason why the current US administration has found it so difficult to influence these countries, as well as Brazil, with tariff threats. All have instead increased their purchases of Russian energy products to meet their domestic productivity, consumer, and export markets. We discussed the recent energy impacts on China and India last week.
VP: “As many colleagues have already noted, links among member states are expanding in science and education, healthcare and environmental protection, as well as in sports and youth exchanges.
The SCO University, which brings together 77 universities from our countries, is operating successfully. Rector forums are held regularly, and dialogue among students, postgraduates and faculty is becoming more active.”
RPA: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization University is an umbrella organisation that includes 60 universities from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and is a network of higher education institutions aspiring to boost academic and research exchanges and cooperation, promote the exchange of educational practices, and create mechanisms for the recognition of higher education diplomas issued by the SCO University in its member states and other countries. The objective is to design “coordinated higher education programmes” at the Bachelor, Master and PhD levels, support the mobility of students and university (teaching, research and administration) staff, carry out joint research projects and so on. Five thematic areas—regional studies, ecology, energy, IT and nanotechnologies—are identified as priorities for the mutually agreed educational programmes. Chinese and Russian are two key languages of instruction (in addition to the member states’ national languages), and the English language can to some extent be used for teaching purposes. Finally, the new “umbrella” university is endowed with its own management structure including an executive board, and board of trustees.
VP: “The SCO is steadily increasing its influence in addressing pressing international issues. It serves as a powerful driver of global development processes and the establishment of genuine multilateralism.
There is no doubt that the SCO makes a tangible contribution to strengthening an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual trust across the entire Eurasian continent. In doing so, it helps lay the political and socioeconomic foundations for a new system of stability, security and peaceful development in Eurasia – a system that would replace outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models, take into account the interests of the widest possible range of countries, and be genuinely balanced, thus preventing attempts by some states to ensure their own security at the expense of others.”
RPA: We provided a demographic introduction to the SCO and made comparisons between it and the European Union and NATO in this recent article here.
VP: “I would like to say that Russia adheres to the same approaches with regard to the crisis around Ukraine. Let me remind you that this crisis did not arise from Russia attacking Ukraine, but from a coup d’etat in Ukraine, supported and provoked by the West, followed by attempts to use military force to suppress the regions and people of Ukraine who rejected and did not accept that coup.
The second reason for the crisis lies in the West’s constant efforts to draw Ukraine into NATO, which, as we have repeatedly and consistently stressed over many years, represents a direct threat to Russia’s security. It is worth recalling that as a result of the 2014 coup in Ukraine, the country’s political leadership that opposed NATO membership was removed from power.
In this context, we highly value the efforts and proposals of China, India and other strategic partners aimed at facilitating a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
I would note that the understandings reached at the recent Russian-US summit in Alaska, I hope, are also moving in this direction, paving the way towards peace in Ukraine. Naturally, for a Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and lasting, the root causes of the crisis that I have just mentioned, and have spoken about many times before, must be addressed, and a fair balance in the sphere of security must be restored.”
RPA: Putin underlining the Ukrainian issues and thanking the SCO for their political support.
VP: “During the bilateral meetings scheduled for today and tomorrow, I will, of course, provide colleagues with more detailed information on the results of the talks in Alaska. In fact, President Xi Jinping and I already discussed this issue. I briefed him in detail on the agreements reached during my talks with the President of the United States.”
RPA: These discussions will not have just been about Putin’s meetings with Trump concerning Ukraine. Trump and Putin also apparently discussed the potential for US-Russia energy cooperation in the Arctic. China considers itself as a ‘near-Arctic’ nation and has its own strategic interests in the region, both in terms of supply chain development along the Northern Sea Route, as well as developing, and possibly investing in future joint Russia-China energy exploration projects. Xi will have wanted to know Putin’s thoughts as to how US involvement is going to fit in with any Russia-US plans.
VP: “Of course, one of the SCO’s priority tasks is to maintain stability both within member states and along their external borders. Russia supports the draft programme for countering extremism until 2030 prepared for our meeting and is ready to contribute to its implementation.
We also attach great importance to the agreements being signed today on establishing a universal SCO centre in Tashkent to respond to the entire range of contemporary challenges and threats, and on opening a dedicated anti-drug centre in Dushanbe. We expect these centres to begin their work in the very near future.”
RPA: These comments are aimed at combatting regional terrorism, which remains a problem especially in Pakistan, an SCO member. The narcotics trade is also a regional problem, both in Central and Southeast Asia.
VP: “In conclusion, I would like to thank our Chinese friends for hosting such a productive meeting of the SCO heads of state. I am confident that the implementation of the agreements reached here in Tianjin will be thoroughly considered at the SCO Heads of Government Council Meeting, which, as agreed, will take place in November in Moscow. Dear friends, we will be delighted to welcome delegations from all your countries.
Naturally, I wish every success to President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov and our Kyrgyz colleagues, who will take over the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation following this summit. Thank you for your attention.”
RPA: We will be providing an overview of other commentaries as concerns the 2025 SCO annual summit, and the Tianjin declaration in other articles. To obtain a complimentary subscription to Russia’s Pivot to Asia and make sure you keep ahead of the latest geopolitical, trade and investment news as concerns Russia and its engagement with the Global South, please click here.
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