Putin Says Curbing NATO Enlargement Crucial to Ukraine Peace Deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in Tianjin, China, said ‘root causes of the crisis’ in Ukraine had to be addressed.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. Sergey Bobylev / POOL / AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sept. 1 that the issue of NATO’s eastward enlargement has to be tackled for there to be a sustainable peace deal in Ukraine.

Putin was speaking after talks with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Tianjin, China.