Tainjin/ New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow's long-held stance that the Ukraine conflict was not the result of a Russian "invasion", but rather the outcome of a Western-backed coup in Kyiv in 2014 and persistent attempts to draw Ukraine into NATO.
Speaking at the plenary session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, Putin said the West's push to integrate Kyiv into NATO remains one of the primary causes of the crisis.
"As we have repeatedly emphasised, this poses a direct threat to Russia's security," he stressed.
According to Putin, the political leadership that opposed NATO accession was removed during the 2014 coup, which Moscow considers the real trigger of the ongoing...