Vladimir Putin claimed that Russians were more united than ever after responding to the short-lived but dramatic mutiny by his private mercenary Wagner group and its march on Moscow. The Russian president was speaking alongside Asian leaders such as his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Tuesday. He was delivering his first remarks outside of Moscow acknowledging June’s aborted coup – the biggest challenge to the Russian leader’s rule in decades. “The Russian people are consolidated as never before,” he said "Russian political circles and the whole of society clearly demonstrated their unity and elevated sense of responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland when they responded as a united front against an attempted armed mutiny,” Mr Putin said in his remarks to his allies. The speech on a united front to Russia’s key allies by Mr Putin comes as he looks to assure the leaders about his challenged authority on the world stage while Russian forces continue to carry out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine for nearly 500 days. Hundreds of Wagner fighters led by Mr Putin’s affiliate and the group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin marched on Moscow after taking control of a southern city on 24 June, threatening to overthrow the defence ministry. After a failed rebellion, Mr Putin accused the Wagner group of a “stab in the back” and said Russia was “facing treason”. He also thanked his army and security services for averting chaos and civil war. On Tuesday, 10 days after the Wagner’s insurgency, Mr Putin shifted his focus to the invasion of Ukraine in his public remarks at the virtual summit helmed by New Delhi and tried to project confidence. He said Russia will stand up against the West’s sanctions and “provocations”. Moscow and the country’s oligarchs are reeling under hundreds of financial sanctions imposed by the international community for launching a war on Ukraine. Thanking the SCO nations for backing the Russian authorities during the rebellion, he said that the West turned Ukraine into “a virtually hostile state – anti-Russia”. Mr Putin said Moscow was looking to boost ties with the SCO member nations, and backed the transition to settlements in local currencies in foreign trade. The Russian president, who launched a “special military operation” on Ukraine in February last year, added that the world was seeing an increasing potential for conflicts, and that the risk of a global economic crisis was on the rise. Experts have said the summit gave Mr Putin a rare window to demonstrate control over rumblings in Moscow. “Putin will want to reassure his partners that he is very much still in charge, and leave no doubt that the challenges to his government have been crushed,” said Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. The summit of the security-led group saw the top leaders of its member states China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in attendance as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi commenced the gathering virtually. Mr Modi, who wrapped up his state visit to the US two weeks earlier with pomp and fervour after meeting Joe Biden, did not mention the war in Ukraine in his opening remarks. While he warned of global challenges to food, fuel and fertiliser supplies, Mr Modi did not blame Moscow’s continuing invasion and halt on grain deal which has shot up the prices across the world. International trade, especially for Russia’s allies, suffered a major setback but all SCO members avoided directly mentioning the war. Mr Modi instead kept his focus on indirectly targeting Pakistan for terrorism, asking the SCO members to not hesitate while criticising the nations “using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy”. India has largely protested any support to Pakistan, accusing its neighbour of breeding terrorism and armed insurgent groups for decades. “Terrorism poses a threat to regional peace and we need to take up a joint fight,” Mr Modi said without naming Pakistan. He was joined by Pakistan prime minister Shahbaz Sharif in condemnation of terrorism, who defended his nation’s fight against it. “While the sacrifices made by Pakistan in fighting terrorism are without parallel, this scourge continues to plague our region and remains a serious obstacle to the maintenance of peace and stability,” Mr Sharif said. “Any temptation to use it as a cudgel for diplomatic point scoring must be eschewed,” Mr Sharif said. The Asian security grouping founded by Russia and China in 2001 to counter Western alliances also welcomed Iran as a new member, bringing its membership to nine nations. Belarus has also queued up at the summit for membership. Read More Russia-Ukraine war– live: Putin claims Russia ‘united’ days after mutiny pushes country to brink of civil war Ukraine’s push to smash Russian defences on the battlefield: ‘Small advances have colossal meaning’ Russia ‘arrests General Armageddon’ over knowledge of Wagner mutiny Putin admits Moscow paid Wagner mercenaries £800m in wages in a year – and that his forces ‘stopped civil war’ A week after an armed rebellion rattled Russia, key details about it are still shrouded in mystery

The Afghan Embassy says it is permanently closing in New Delhi over challenges from the Indian government and a lack of diplomatic support

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson made his first start in nearly a month Sunday at Indianapolis, but he left in the first quarter after getting hurt on a third down pass

The Department of Justice is prepared to seek indictments against multiple figures in former president Donald Trump’s orbit and may yet bring additional charges against the ex-president in the coming weeks, The Independent has learned. According to sources familiar with the matter, the department has made preparations to bring what is known as a “superseding indictment” — a second set of charges against an already-indicted defendant that could include more serious crimes — against the ex-president, and could do so in a number of different venues, depending on how prosecutors feel the case they have brought against him in a Florida federal court is proceeding. Mr Trump’s other legal troubles also appear to be hotting up, with former campaign official Mike Roman reportedly cooperating with investigators probing his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Sources told CNN on Thursday that Mr Roman, who was involved in the fake electors scheme, has reached a proffer agreement with special counsel Jack Smith’s office. Rudy Giuliani is also said to have taken such an agreement. Meanwhile, three investors in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that took the Trump Media & Technology Group public have been indicted for insider trading. Read More Kevin McCarthy knows he crossed the line with Donald Trump Trump's GOP support dips slightly after his indictment over classified documents, AP-NORC poll finds ‘Any Republican not named Trump’: Paul Ryan says former president is only candidate who would lose to Biden

Mason, whom Brandi shares with ex-husband Eddie Cibrian, has even posed for the new Ben Sherman line for 2023

Republicans in the House are increasingly threatening impeachment against President Joe Biden and his top Cabinet officials

Olivia Dunne has credited her success to her 'balancing act' in life

Kazakhstan said on Saturday that 32 people were killed in a fire in yet another deadly accident in a mine owned by ArcelorMittal, with over a dozen still missing, in the Central...

With a flood of visitors and tourists expected, officials in the nation’s capital are mobilizing additional police officers and dozens of teams of civilian peacekeepers in an attempt to keep rising violent crime rates from marring the holiday weekend

Ana Navarro shared an update about her summer vacation in Turkey

Donald Trump bashed Fox News, claiming that it is working with other Republican candidates to figure out who can beat him in the GOP primary. The former president took to Truth Social to say that the network is “going all out, just as they did in 2016, to figure who in this very large, but failing, Republican field, can beat your favorite President, Donald John Trump”. “They use only the most negative polls, which are still great for me, and do everything possible to show that they still have a chance,” he added. “They even pull out nice guy Marc Thiessen to do contortions with numbers that just don’t exist. On top of all that, I am the only one beating, by a lot, Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST ‘P’ EVER!” Mr Thiessen, a Washington Post columnist, Fox News commentator, and former White House director of speechwriting under George W Bush, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday that “64 per cent of Americans say they definitely or probably will not vote for Trump in 2024 (53 per cent definitely + 11 per cent probably). Like watching a slow-moving train wreck for the GOP”. He was referring to reporting and polling by the Associated Press outlining Mr Trump’s steadfast and growing support within the Republican Party but declining ratings with the general electorate. A number of Republicans have argued that the party must choose a new standard-bearer as Mr Trump’s standing with the public at large has only gotten worse since the 2020 election following the Capitol riot and the chaos around him, specifically in connection to his mounting legal problems and the litany of felony charges he faces. Anti-Trump Republican strategist Sarah Longwell told the AP: “There is a meaningful number of voters who have voted for Trump twice and can’t vote for him again after all of this.” Comparatively, according to the polling from The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 43 per cent said they definitely wouldn’t vote for President Joe Biden, in addition to 11 per cent who said they probably wouldn’t. “Trump needs to embody the voters’ grievances and not his own grievances,” Ms Longwell added. “Anytime he’s talking about 2020 he’s looking backwards and the voters get more excited about looking forward.” CPAC chair Matt Schlapp responded to Mr Thiessen on X, saying: “I love you @marcthiessen. You are a good man. Stop this. Trump has to be the nominee because we have to take it all down. It’s that bad and no one else will be able to do it.” Historian Aaron Aster wrote, “The key item in this poll is that 53% will ‘definitely not’ vote for Trump. 43% will ‘definitely not’ vote for Biden. (10-11% ‘probably’ won’t vote for each, respectively). The ‘definitely’ numbers are more important at this stage bc they set the parameters of possible outcomes.” While he added that “early General Election polling is mostly hot garbage because lots of people pay little attention at this point,” he noted that “the ‘definite’ numbers are more likely to pick up the hard ceiling. Yes, those numbers can change a bit too. But in this case they reflect hardening among Independents against Trump – and a small but decisive group of non-Trump GOPers. And less hard-core anti-Biden among Dems”. “A lot of people who really don’t want to vote for Biden but despise Trump will likely vote Biden in the end,” the historian speculated. Read More Will the Georgia gang of 18 turn on Trump? Trumpworld hanging by a thread as co-accused pressured to flip on ex-president Trump claims mystery report clears him of Georgia election charges as DA seeks March trial date – live updates Fulton County DA Fani Willis proposes Trump’s Georgia trial date the day before Super Tuesday Election workers who face frequent harassment see accountability in the latest Georgia charges Kentucky gubernatorial rivals Andy Beshear and Daniel Cameron offer competing education plans Fundraiser for George Santos charged with impersonating aide to Speaker McCarthy

Voting rights advocates are locked in a court fight with Louisiana's top Republicans over whether the state must follow Alabama’s court-ordered path in drawing a new, Black-majority congressional district