Russian President Vladimir Putin told Asian leaders on Tuesday that the Russian people are more united than ever, the Kremlin leader’s first public international intervention since the Wagner mercenary uprising in June, DPA reported, citing Agerpres.

“The Russian people are more consolidated than ever,” Putin said during a video conference of the Shanghai Security Organization (SCO) summit, a forum that includes China and India, among others.

“Political circles and the entire society in Russia vividly demonstrated their unity and sense of responsibility for the fate of the Motherland, acting as a united front against the attempted armed uprising,” added the Russian leader.

Vladimir Putin’s speech and emphasis on Russian unity are intended to show how keen the Russian leader is to remove any doubts about his global authority after the uprising led by the leader of the Wagner paramilitary group Yevgeny Prigozhin in June.

The uprising of Wagner’s mercenaries created image problems for Putin

On June 24, Wagner’s militants took control of the city of Rostov-on-Don and headed for Moscow, posing the worst challenge to Vladimir Putin since he seized power in Russia in 1999.

The uprising was suppressed thanks to an agreement brokered by the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

In his speech, Vladimir Putin said that Russia will oppose Western sanctions and “provocations”. He added that Moscow intends to expand relations with other OCS countries.

His comments came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Iran’s accession to the SCO last Friday.

“At the next meeting of the Committee of Heads of State (SCO), which will be held on July 4, Iran’s full membership will be formalized,” Lavrov told the press in Moscow.

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