Vladimir Putin Speech At Shanghai Cooperation Organisation 2025 Moscow Summit: Comments and Analysis

Russia is the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and has been hosting the Council of Heads of Government in Moscow. The Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, chaired the event, while the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, also addressed the attendees. These included China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, and Belarus. This is what he had to say, with his comments prefixed with VP and ours with RPA.

VP: “Colleagues, friends, it is a great pleasure to welcome you all to Moscow. Today, you have successfully concluded a regular meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, outlining plans for our future joint work. This builds upon the foundations laid by the Tianjin Declaration and the SCO Development Strategy to 2035, which was adopted at September’s SCO Summit in China.

We are united by a common objective: to strengthen the authority and influence of the SCO as one of the leading regional associations, both across the Eurasian continent and globally. In this endeavor, our governments have a vital role to play. Governments always have a special role when it comes to practical work. It is, after all, our governments—the teams under your leadership—who translate our shared ambitions into concrete, practical cooperation and who drive the expansion of the organization’s multifaceted partnerships.

Throughout Russia’s chairmanship of the Council this year, we have hosted a substantial program of events. Nearly 30 ministerial and expert meetings, as well as forums involving business, public, and youth representatives, have been held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other major Russian cities, and a wide range of mutually beneficial projects and cooperation programs have been agreed upon.

Governments traditionally prioritize issues of economic cooperation and promotion and diversification of trade and investment. Coordinated efforts in these areas are already yielding tangible results.

For example, Russia’s trade with SCO member states reached US$409 billion in 2024 and continues to grow. Of course, the largest share of this turnover is accounted for by our cooperation with the People’s Republic of China; however, trade with other SCO member states is also growing.”

RPA: The Russia-China trade portion of this US$409 billion was US$244.8 billion, suggesting that Russia-SCO trade—excluding China—reached US$164.2 billion. If we then subtract the India trade portion of this, being US$68.7 billion, this leaves US$95.5 billion as Russia’s SCO trade excluding its two major partners. This figure is relevant, as it suggests there remains significant trade development potential within other SCO markets.

VP: “It is important to note that the share of national currencies in commercial transactions between the organization’s members is consistently increasing. For example, in our country’s trade with SCO partners, this figure already exceeds 97%.

Stable and uninterrupted payment channels are becoming increasingly vital, particularly in the current volatile economic environment, marked by turbulence in the global markets, unilateral sanctions, tariff restrictions, and wars.

At Russia’s initiative, and with the support of its partners within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, steps are being taken to expand payment, settlement, and depository infrastructure. The agenda also includes consultations on the creation of a future SCO Development Bank, as well as on the mutual recognition of credit ratings and goods indicator systems.”

RPA: The emergence of an SCO Development Bank is likely to be a global game-changer, as proposals for its activities include the introduction of a new payments/settlements system as an alternative to SWIFT.

VP: “Other Russian proposals on the establishment of a database of industrial investment projects within the SCO are also being implemented. The creation of such an instrument will expand cooperation in the industrial sector, facilitate joint development of production capacity, support import substitution, and promote the introduction of new technologies and digital innovations, including artificial intelligence. Ultimately, these efforts will contribute to strengthening the technological sovereignty of our countries in the core sectors of the economy.”

RPA: This implies a strengthening of SCO institutions to ensure that Eurasian projects are coordinated to alleviate any duplication and to create more efficient infrastructure on a multilateral basis. This is especially pertinent in the SCO’s case to the development of the ‘Middle Route’ along the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), using Iran and Kazakhstan as transit hubs.

VP: “It would be appropriate to continue our joint efforts to build an extensive and competitive network of logistics routes across the vast expanse of the SCO and Eurasia as a whole.

Russia, situated at the very heart of the continent and at the intersection of key trans-Eurasian transport corridors, is allocating significant funds to modernize its transport infrastructure. The volume of road, rail, and multimodal traffic passing through Russian territory is growing noticeably, with due consideration given to the utilization of new promising corridors such as North–South and the Northern Sea Route. Today, incidentally, another nuclear-powered icebreaker has just been laid down.”

RPA: Putin again mentions the INSTC as well as the Northern Sea Route (NSR). There are significant developments taking place along both of these supply chains. Please see here for the latest on the INSTC and here for the NSR.

VP: “Russia is also making a substantial contribution to maintaining stability in global energy markets. We are doing everything to ensure reliable supplies of energy resources to consumers, despite attempts from outside to negatively influence supply chains, and we count on closer coordination among all SCO partners in the energy sector, in line with the relevant roadmap adopted in Tianjin.”

RPA: A reference to sanctions and tariffs being placed on oil exports. For more on this subject, please see here.

VP: “It is evident that the Shanghai Organisation could play a more significant role not only in deepening sectoral cooperation but also, more broadly, in fostering a favorable atmosphere on our shared continent for stable, progressive growth and multifaceted economic interaction. In practical terms, it could also facilitate the alignment of the numerous integration projects being implemented across Eurasia. This is precisely the aim of the Greater Eurasian Partnership concept proposed by Russia. The idea is to harmoniously combine integration processes within the Eurasian Economic Union, the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by our Chinese friends, and numerous similar projects involving the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.”

RPA: SCO members Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan are all members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a free trade space between Eastern Europe and Western China. Iran has a free trade agreement with the EAEU, while India is currently negotiating one. China also has an FTA with the EAEU, but this is ‘non-preferential,’ meaning China-EAEU trade tariffs are adjusted on an as-needed basis rather than as a full agreement. This allows a greater degree of flexibility given that China is the world’s largest exporter and formalizing a full FTA deal would be extremely complex. Meanwhile, the EAEU has been experiencing GDP trade growth in excess of 6% per annum, with this expected to continue.

VP: “Naturally, cooperation within the SCO framework is by no means limited to the economy, though this is undoubtedly the primary focus. Our organization also actively contributes to strengthening peace and stability across Eurasia, countering a wide range of challenges and threats, and shaping a new balanced security architecture in Eurasia.

An equally important component of the SCO’s activities is the development of humanitarian contacts and exchanges in the fields of culture, science, education, healthcare, environmental protection, and, of course, youth policy and sport. As I have said on numerous occasions, Russia is sincerely committed to the closest possible partnership with the SCO member states. I am confident that by acting in a coordinated and united manner, helping one another, we are capable of achieving truly impressive results in developing multifaceted cooperation among our countries. Thank you for your attention.”

RPA: It should be noted that Putin’s speech to the SCO members was essentially an “EAEU plus China” summit and mainly affects the Russia-Central Asia-China middle corridor, in addition to the developing INSTC routes south via Iran to India.

However, the SCO has more substantial clout when one considers its partners, who also include Afghanistan, Armenia, ASEAN, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Kuwait, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, the UAE, and the United Nations. While not participating in the full members summit to which Putin’s speech was directed, the implications of what was said also impact many of these countries too—all of whom sent delegations to Moscow. We can expect more concrete developments concerning the SCO Full Members with the SCO Partners to follow.

Finally, and possibly incidentally, we note Putin’s signing off his comments with the phrase “Thank you for your attention”—which is unusual for Putin to use but is a favorite saying of US President Donald Trump when he concludes his messages. Flattery? It will have been noted in Washington.

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