🎙 Statement by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the SCO Plus meeting

🎙 Statement by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the SCO Plus meeting (Bishkek, September 1, 2026)

💬 SCO Plus meetings have become a good tradition. In my view, this once again confirms that the international community’s interest in our organisation’s multifaceted activities continues to grow.

Russia is open to honest, mutually beneficial cooperation based on equality and mutual benefit, while respecting each other’s interests and values, cultures and traditions.

I consider the theme proposed by the Kyrgyz Chairmanship for today’s meeting highly relevant: “The UN as a Key Element of a Just World Order: The Contribution of SCO Plus Countries to Building a Multipolar World”.

☝️ There is no doubt that the UN plays, and must continue to play, a central role in world affairs.

Let me recall that last year the UN marked its anniversary: eight decades ago, our countries and peoples, having defeated Nazism and militarism in World War II – and today, September 1, marks the day in 1939 when that terrible war began – were able to unite, find a balance of interests and agree on the fundamental rules of interstate relations.

These principles were enshrined in the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnectedness. Since then, the UN has served as a unique platform for dialogue, diplomacy and cooperation.

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🇺🇳 The UN’s potential remains far from fully realised.

It is important to make efforts to improve its effectiveness, broaden representation in its bodies, including the Security Council, by giving a greater role to countries of the Global South and East, and generally adapt the organisation to changing realities and the fundamental shifts taking place in global politics and the economy.

We are witnessing the emergence of a new, genuinely just #MultipolarWorld. This process is objective and, frankly, as everyone already understands, irreversible. Many states seek to determine their own destiny, firmly defend their legitimate interests and actively participate in international affairs.

Against this backdrop, the UN’s unifying and constructive role is very much in demand. The world organisation must undoubtedly retain its function as the principal mechanism for reconciling interests. That is precisely what it was created to be from the outset – a mechanism for reconciling interests.

The UN cannot be an organisation that advances the interests of one country or a group of countries.I repeat: the UN must remain the primary mechanism for balancing interests, not least because no comparable mechanism exists anywhere else in the world.

❗️ The UN Charter must continue to serve as a key source of international law.

At the same time, alongside the UN, the architecture of a #MultipolarWorld naturally incorporates new multilateral regional structures that have emerged and gained strength in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Our Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is an example.