The West's constant attempts to draw Kiev into NATO is one of the main causes of the Ukrainian conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit here.
Putin claimed that the crisis arose largely because of the “coup d’etat in Kiev in 2014, which was provoked by the West", Russian news agency Tass reported.
"The second reason for the crisis is the West's constant attempts to draw Ukraine into NATO. As we have repeatedly emphasised, this poses a direct threat to Russia's security," he said.
In February 2014, deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capital Kyiv culminated in the ousting of then president Viktor Yanukovych.
According to the Russian president, “as a result of the coup in 2014, the political leadership of the country that did not support Ukraine's accession to NATO was removed".
Putin arrived here on Sunday to take part in the summit of the 10-member bloc.
He later attended the opening banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
His presence at the SCO summit shifted focus on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, unsuccessful attempts by US President Donald Trump to work out a ceasefire and pressuring India with heavy tariffs for buying Russian oil.
The SCO was founded on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai. Initially, it consisted of six countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
India and Pakistan joined in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024.
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