Following the July 4 SCO Heads of State Council Meeting, Putin held a press conference. The full transcript on the Kremlin site is extensive, as Putin, typically, took quite a number of questions.
The first journalist from Channel One asked Putin’s view of the SCO event, and Putin responded with an overview of the development of the organization:
“Let me remind you that it was created to finally settle all the issues that arose after the U.S.S.R. collapsed, border issues with China that remained unresolved backing the Soviet times between China and the newly established states. Gradually, the organization started to gain steam and definitely became more necessary in today’s world, because it is clearly an independent center of the new multipolar world. This is the feature that attracted the organization members and those who wanted to maintain close contacts with it at various levels, as guests or as observers. As you can see, the will to join the SCO is growing. It has definitely become a powerful and global organization: its member countries represent almost half of the Earth’s population. This is the first point.
“Second, it is a platform to agree positions among the member countries: China, Russia, India and Pakistan. As you understand, contacts never go amiss. In addition to this, once the organization has grown to be so powerful and large, then the principles it declares are also significant, when they are known all over the world. For example, all the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have agreed that they stand against the deployment of any weapons in outer space, which is reflected in the declaration and other documents as well. This is a signal for the rest of the world on how we feel about the militarization of outer space….”
A second question from Komsomolskaya Pravda was on Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada as “the only legitimate authority in Ukraine.” Putin said: “It is not we who say this but the constitution of Ukraine.”
The journalist followed up: “Yes, this is according to the constitution. Perhaps Russia could address Verkhovna Rada directly, so that everyone in Ukraine and the West knows it.
