War in Ukraine, live: Moscow announces “massive strikes” in retaliation for Ukrainian breakthroughs – Le Monde

The Kremlin praises the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a “real alternative” to the West “The Shanghai Cooperation Organization offers a real alternative to the Western-oriented structures ‘West,’ Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov told the press on Tuesday, ahead of the organization’s annual summit. He stressed that it was the “largest organization in the world, which includes half the population of the planet”, assuring that its members want a “just international order”. The summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Samarkand, in Uzbekistan, the former Soviet republic of Central Asia, must bring together, according to Moscow, not only the leaders of the member countries of this organization, which include, among others, Russia, China, India and Pakistan, but also many other leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Since the start of its offensive in Ukraine on February 24, which earned it unprecedented Western sanctions, Russia has set its sights resolutely on Asia, in particular to find economic opportunities there as a result of American and European sanctions. . According to Mr. Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in addition to his speech at the summit, will meet the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to discuss the Ukrainian crisis and “economic and trade cooperation” with Beijing. On the sidelines of the summit, he will meet with the Pakistani, Indian and Iranian leaders, as well as with the Turkish president to discuss the delivery of cereals from Ukraine. Another discussion is planned with the Azerbaijani president to discuss the latest escalation of violence on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, which left at least 49 dead on the Armenian side overnight from Monday to Tuesday.