Will the SCO Summit alter course of Ukraine War, help end the stalemate?

The SCO Summit 2025 is underway in Tianjin, China, and brings together over 20 world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and India’s Narendra Modi, making it the largest gathering of leadership under the forum ever. The leadership would be aiming to devise a strategy for geopolitical realignment and bolstering ties among non-Western nations for a multipolar vision amid the economic turmoil unleashed by Trump tariffs. However, with the US imposing high tariffs on India, citing the Ukraine War, and threatening further crippling sanctions on Russia for failure to strike a peace deal, the Moscow-Kyiv conflict would definitely crop up in the talks.

Is the Ukraine War on summit agenda?

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky wishes SCO leaders would pressure Putin for a ceasefire, as he has been reiterating that “without pressure from the world, there will be no end to the war.”

Zelensky called Indian PM Narendra Modi on the eve of the summit, and the latter reaffirmed support for a peaceful resolution. PM Modi has endorsed dialogue and negotiation multiple times, and his remark, “This is not an era of war” was hailed all over and is still oft repeated by others.

What is Beijing’s stand on the ‘Ukraine crisis’?

China publicly endorses dialogue and negotiation as the only viable solution to the conflict but continues to be a major supplier of dual-use and sensitive goods that bolster Russia’s war efforts.

China's support for Russia in the Ukraine war is strategic, multifaceted, and deliberately ambiguous. Beijing claims neutrality and calls for peace, but it has helped Moscow in several indirect but impactful ways.

China has been a critical supplier of dual-use items—goods that can serve both civilian and military purposes—to Russia. These include semiconductors and electronics used in drones, missile systems, and communications, and commercial drones that can be repurposed.

China has also helped Russia diplomatically on the global stage and abstained or voted against resolutions condemning Russia at the UN.

Besides, China’s foreign ministry and state media consistently refer to the war as the “Ukraine crisis,” and avoid the word “invasion.”

Is India really helping Russia in its war?

India is not directly helping Russia wage war against Ukraine, but it maintains a “strategic neutrality” and refuses to condemn Russia. India is also a big buyer of Russia’s crude oil, and nearly 40% of its crude imports are from Russia. India also adopted diplomatic neutrality that benefited Russia and has abstained from most UN votes condemning Russia or sanctioning it.

India repeatedly states that it supports dialogue and diplomacy but refuses to criticise Moscow publicly.

But then India’s tilt towards Moscow is not newfound. India has longstanding defence ties with Russia, and over 60–70% of Indian military gear is of Russian origin.

Moreover, it is strategically beneficial for India to keep cordial ties with both Russia and the West, especially amid its border tensions with China.

What may happen ultimately?

SCO usually tends to avoid divisive topics on which its member states have divergent views. While the Ukraine War may figure in bilateral conversations, it’s not expected to be a formal item in the summit agenda.

Moreover, the summit is more about presenting a united Global South than looking for a diplomatic breakthrough on the Ukraine War, and hence, without a formal consensus, the summit’s impact on the conflict is likely to remain limited.