In Photos: Putin Attends SCO Summit, Military Parade in China This Week

President Vladimir Putin traveled to the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin this weekend for an annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), before heading to Beijing for a Chinese military parade commemorating 80 years since Japan surrendered in World War II.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the SCO summit, which was attended by leaders from more than two dozen countries, including the leaders of India, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

Putin held several bilateral meetings, both in Tianjin and in Beijing. He met with Xi Jinping of China, Narendra Modi of India, Kim Jong-un of North Korea and Robert Fico of Slovakia, among others.

In his meeting with Xi Jinping, Putin invoked the history of World War II to underscore Moscow’s wartime alignment with Beijing. “We were always together then, and we remain together now,” he said, adding that close communication between the two leaders reflected the “strategic nature” of their partnership.

“China-Russia relations have withstood the test of international changes,” Xi said in televised remarks, adding that Beijing was ready to work with Moscow to push for a “more just and reasonable” global order.

Both Putin and Xi have used the gathering in China to sharpen their criticism of the West. At the summit on Monday, Xi denounced what he called “bullying behavior,” a pointed jab at Washington. The Kremlin leader, meanwhile, defended the ongoing war against Ukraine and blamed Western governments for fueling the conflict.