"To make the Ukrainian settlement sustainable and long-term, the root causes must be eliminated, ... a just balance in the sphere of security must be restored", - declared the russian dictator putin at a meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO member states, as quoted by russian media on September 1.
Among these causes, the russian side previously cited the "problem of russia's security" connected with NATO’s eastward expansion. Putin also said that peace agreements on Ukraine must be based on new territorial realities.
Russian media also quoted putin as saying that the agreements reached at his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska open the way to peace in Ukraine. "The understandings reached at the recent Russian-American summit in Alaska, I hope, also go in this direction, opening the road to peace in Ukraine", - said putin.
He clarified that he informed PRC Chairman Xi Jinping about the results of the bilateral summit and promised to tell the SCO heads of state about the agreements reached.