Modi publicly attacks Putin Xi warns against foreign interference The world has changed, says Putin Iran calls on SCO to work against US
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday it was not time for war, directly attacking the Kremlin leader in public over the nearly seven-month conflict in Ukraine. Locked in a standoff with the West over war, Putin has repeatedly said Russia is not isolated because it can look east to major Asian powers like China and India. But at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), concerns spilled out into the open. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up “I know that today is not a time of war and I spoke to you on the phone about that,” Modi told Putin in a televised meeting in the ancient Uzbek Silk Road city of Samarkand. read more As Modi made the remark, Russia’s top leader since 1999 pursed his lips, glanced at Modi, then looked down before touching the hair at the back of his head. Putin told Modi he understood the Indian leader had concerns about Ukraine, but that Moscow was doing everything it could to end the conflict. “I know your position on the conflict in Ukraine, the concerns you constantly express,” Putin said. “We will do everything we can to stop this as soon as possible.” He said Ukraine rejected the negotiations. The war in Ukraine, sparked when Putin ordered troops to invade on February 24, has killed tens of thousands of soldiers, sparked the worst standoff with the West since the Cold War and sent the global economy into a deflationary spiral. India has become the No. 2 buyer of Russian oil after China, as others have reduced purchases after the invasion. Putin told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday that he understood Xi had concerns about the situation in Ukraine, but praised the Beijing leader for taking a “balanced” position on the conflict. read more
‘COLOR REVOLUTIONS’
Xi, on his first trip outside China since early 2020, did not publicly mention the war in Ukraine. The Chinese leader said the world has entered a new period of turmoil and that partners like Putin and Central Asian leaders should prevent foreign powers from inciting “color revolutions”. “The world has entered a new period of turbulent change, we must understand the trend of the times, strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and promote the building of a closer community of destiny with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” Xi said. “We should support each other’s efforts to safeguard security and development interests, prevent external forces from making color revolutions, and jointly oppose interference in the internal affairs of other countries under any pretext.” Xi criticized “zero-sum games and bloc politics,” a veiled reference to the United States that Beijing has criticized in the past for relying on allies to counter China’s spectacular rise to superpower-in-waiting status. Putin has repeatedly said the United States is planning so-called “color revolutions” similar to those that swept established elites from power in places like Ukraine. The United States denies such claims and says they show the paranoia of Putin’s Russia. The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was overthrown in the “Maidan” revolution and Russia annexed Crimea, with Russian-backed separatists fighting Ukraine’s armed forces. China’s stability-obsessed Communist Party, which next month is likely to give Xi a third term as leader and consolidate his position as the country’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has previously warned of so-called ” color revolutions”. Xi stayed away from a dinner attended by 11 heads of state in line with his delegation’s policy on COVID-19, an Uzbekistani government source told Reuters on Friday. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Additional reporting by Shivam Patel, Yew Lun Tian, Ryan Woo and Parisa Hafezi. Written by Olzhas Auyezov and Guy Faulconbridge. Edited by Catherine Evans and Mark Heinrich Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
