TIANJIN, China, Sept 1, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir  Putin took turns Monday to swipe at the West during a gathering of Eurasian  leaders for a showpiece summit aimed at putting Beijing front and centre of  regional relations. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), comprising China, India, Russia,  Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus,  is touted as a non-Western style of collaboration and seeks to be an  alternative to traditional alliances. Xi told the SCO leaders, including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko  and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that the global international  situation was becoming more "chaotic and intertwined". The Chinese leader also slammed "bullying behaviour" from certain countries - - a veiled reference to the United States. "The security and development tasks facing member states have become even  more challenging," he added in his address in the northern port city of  Tianjin. "With the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to  follow the Shanghai spirit...and better perform the functions of the  organisation," Xi said. Putin used his speech to defend Russia's Ukraine offensive, blaming the West  for triggering the three-and-a-half year conflict that has killed tens of  thousands and devastated much of eastern Ukraine. "This crisis wasn't triggered by Russia's attack on Ukraine, but was a result  of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West," Putin  said. "The second reason for the crisis is the West's constant attempts to drag  Ukraine into NATO." Meanwhile, Putin praised Turkey's mediation attempts around the Ukraine war  during his first meeting this year with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip  Erdogan on Monday. Turkey has hosted three rounds of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine this  year that have failed to break the deadlock over how to end the conflict. - 'Always insightful' - Earlier, leaders from the 10 SCO countries stood on a red carpet and posed  for a group photo. Xi, Putin and Modi were seen on live footage chatting, the three leaders  flanked by their translators. Modi and Putin, who were photographed holding  hands, held talks in the afternoon. Russian state media reported the pair spent nearly an hour talking "face-to- face" in Putin's armoured presidential car before their official bilateral  meeting.  "Conversations with him are always insightful," Modi wrote on X along with a  photograph of them travelling in the car. In opening comments before their meeting, Modi praised the "special and  privileged strategic partnership" with Moscow. "India and Russia have stood shoulder to shoulder, even in the toughest  situations," he said. On the conflict in Ukraine, Modi said India wanted both sides to end it "as  soon as possible and to find stable peace". - Flurry of meetings - The SCO summit, which also involves 16 more countries as observers or  "dialogue partners", kicked off on Sunday, days before a massive military  parade in the capital Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II. The member states signed a declaration Monday, agreeing to strengthen  cooperation in sectors such as security and economy, China's Xinhua news  agency said. They also "unanimously agreed" to admit Laos as a "dialogue partner", Xinhua  added. Xi held a flurry of back-to-back bilateral meetings with leaders including  Lukashenko -- one of Putin's staunch allies -- and Modi, who is on his first  visit to China since 2018. Modi told Xi that India was committed to taking "forward our ties on the  basis of mutual trust, dignity and sensitivity". The world's two most populous nations are intense rivals, competing for  influence across South Asia, and fought a deadly border clash in 2020. A thaw began last October, when Modi met Xi for the first time in five years  at a summit in Russia. Their rapprochement deepened as US President Donald Trump pressured both  Asian economic giants with trade tariffs. More than 20 leaders, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, are  attending the bloc's largest meeting since its founding in 2001. Putin is expected to hold talks on Monday with Pezeshkian about Tehran's  nuclear programme. Many of the assembled dignitaries will be in Beijing on Wednesday to watch  the military parade, which will also be attended by North Korean leader Kim  Jong Un. Kim left Pyongyang by train on Monday afternoon, and is expected to arrive  Tuesday, Yonhap news agency reported.