Leaders
Putin, Modi join Xi at SCO summit amid trade tensions
Over 20 world leaders descended on Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) largest summit since 2001 for talks on current trade issues and future partnerships. The guest list read like a who's who of countries getting hammered by Trump's trade war. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian PM Narendra Modi, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan all showed up - alongside leaders from across Asia and the Middle East, increasingly fed up with Washington. The SCO has expanded rapidly from its original six founding members in 2001. Iran joined in 2023 and Belarus in 2024, bringing total membership to ten countries. Modi's appearance was his first trip to China since 2018, coming after Trump slapped 50% tariffs on Indian goods - a move that may be pushing New Delhi straight into Beijing's arms. In talks with Xi, both leaders agreed that stable China-India relations are “key to realising the Asian century”. The SCO covers nearly half the world's population and a quarter of global GDP. Xi told the gathering the SCO now bears "greater responsibility" for regional stability, pushing the SCO's security agenda during the summit with talks on the organisation's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure expanding it
Xi, Putin absent from muted, multilateral BRICS+ meeting
The BRICS+ summit kicking off in host nation Brazil has been overshadowed by United States President Donald Trump's global tariff measures and the notable absence of two key nations' leaders. For the first time since assuming power in 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping missed the annual BRICS gathering entirely, sending Prime Minister Li Qiang in his place. Russian President Vladimir Putin dialled in via videoconference, continuing his pattern of avoiding international travel due to the ICC arrest warrant hanging over his head. The absence of two heavyweight leaders at the Rio summit spurred questions about BRICS' ability to function as a cohesive counterweight to Western-dominated institutions.Multilateral stanceThe group's carefully worded 31-page declaration condemned rising tariffs "inconsistent with WTO rules", without naming the obvious target - Donald Trump's administration. It also criticised attacks on Iran, yet avoided mention of the U.S. or Israel. Ukraine received just a single mention despite Russia's ongoing invasion, with the bloc instead condemning "in the strongest terms" Ukrainian attacks on Russia. The BRICS bloc emerged from the wreckage of the 2008 financial crisis as a geopolitical mechanism
NATO Summit: Trump targets Spain with trade threat
United States President Donald Trump has threatened tough trade deals with Spain and said the U.S. may send Ukraine more air-defence missiles to defend itself from Russia at the NATO summit in the Netherlands. Trump’s threat towards Spain came after the southern European country’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, refused to meet the NATO defence spending target of 5% gross domestic product in a letter to NATO chief Mark Rutte. "Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain further away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU's ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem," Sanchez wrote in the letter. "It is the legitimate right of every government to decide whether or not they are willing to make those sacrifices. As a sovereign Ally, we choose not to.” Trump said it was terrible that Spain wouldn’t commit to meeting the target by 2035, despite their strong economy. “We’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal and we’re going to make them pay twice as much — and I’m actually serious about that. I like Spain … it’s a great place and they are great people, but Spain is the only country out of all of the countries that refuses to p
PM Albanese and President Xi meet before G20 Summit
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met, in the lead up to the G20 Leader’s Summit in Brazil. Albanese held the formal talks at Xi’s hotel in Rio de Janeiro before both leaders arrived at the summit. The two last met for a formal bilateral meeting in Beijing last December and at the previous G20 summit in Bali in 2022. During the meeting, President Xi Jinping acknowledged the “twists and turns” in his government’s relations with Australia, while Mr Albanese aimed to solidify the strategic and economic partnership. Both leaders acknowledged the meeting was held 10 years to the day after the two countries had signed a strategic partnership, an agreement put in place by then prime minister Tony Abbott when Xi visited Australia. Xi emphasised the improvement in recent years, saying there had been a “turnaround” in relations in recent times and did not rule out expanding the economic ties, despite previous trade disputes. Addressing Albanese, he said “I wish to work with you, Mr prime minister, to make our comprehensive strategic partnership more mature, stable and fruitful, and inject more stability and certainty to the region and the wider world.” In a press conference after the