Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with officials during a welcoming ceremony at an airport upon his arrival for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China Aug 31, 2025. Sputnik/Vladimir Smirnov/Pool via REUTERSRussian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with officials during a welcoming ceremony at an airport upon his arrival for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China Aug 31, 2025. Sputnik/Vladimir Smirnov/Pool via REUTERSRussian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Sunday, Chinese and Russian state media reported, for a regional security summit that China hopes can counter Western influence in global affairs. A day before his visit, Putin blasted Western sanctions in a written interview with China's official Xinhua news agency, saying Moscow and Beijing jointly opposed "discriminatory" sanctions in global trade. Russia's economy is on the brink of recession, weighed by trade curbs and the cost of the war.
