TOKYO -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is on a diplomatic offensive to court emerging and developing countries in Asia and Africa, tapping into their frustrations by offering an alternative to the Western-led order.
Russia "proposed the idea of creating a new Eurasian architecture of cooperation, indivisible security and development," Putin said at a summit of the Russian- and Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization on July 4. "This new framework should replace the obsolete Europe-centric and Euro-Atlantic models that granted unilateral advantages to certain states."
