Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for a shaking of the world order as they met with Asian leaders on Friday for a summit that challenged Western influence.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in former Soviet Uzbekistan brought Putin and Xi together with the leaders of SCO members India, Pakistan and four Central Asian nations, as well as the presidents of Iran and Turkey.

Putin and Xi met Thursday for their first face-to-face talks since the conflict began in Ukraine and on the Chinese leader’s first foreign trip since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The summit was proposed as an alternative to “Western-centric organizations” at a time of mounting pressure on Moscow over Ukraine and growing anger in Beijing over US support for Taiwan.

Xi told leaders at the summit it was time to transform the international system and “abandon zero-sum games and bloc politics.”

The leaders should “work together to promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction,” Xi said.

Putin welcomed the growing influence of countries outside the West and criticized what he called “tools of protectionism, illegal sanctions and economic selfishness”.

“The growing role of new centers of power that cooperate with each other is becoming increasingly evident,” Putin said.

The summit was Putin’s first major international outing since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February, sparking a conflict that left thousands dead and a wave of economic sanctions swept Russia.

Xi said on Thursday China is ready to work with Russia to support “the other’s core interests,” although Putin admitted Beijing has “concerns” about the situation in Ukraine, which he will address.

The SCO – which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – was established in 2001 as a political, economic and security organization to compete with Western institutions.

In a sign the bloc is far from fully unified, clashes escalated along the borders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Friday, with both sides accusing the other of responsibility and the use of heavy weapons.

Putin was later scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been a key broker in deals between Russia and Ukraine on issues such as grain shipments, later on Friday.

Erdogan told leaders at the summit that efforts were being made “to end the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible through diplomacy.”

Meeting with Erdogan on Friday, Xi called for more “political mutual trust” between the two countries and urged more cooperation on his signature Belt and Road global trade initiative.

Xi was also scheduled to hold his first face-to-face meeting with Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on Friday after Raisi met Putin on Thursday.

For Xi, the summit was an opportunity to cement his credentials as a global statesman ahead of a crucial congress of the ruling Communist Party in October, where he is widely expected to secure an unprecedented third term as president.

For Putin, it was an opportunity to show that he is not completely isolated on the global stage at a time when his forces in Ukraine are facing major battlefield setbacks.

Other nations have sounded the alarm about deepening ties between Moscow and Beijing.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said China and Russia “share a vision for the world that is at odds with the vision that is at the heart of the international system, the vision that has been expressed for the past eight years in the United States.” The center of the international system was decades.”

He also noted Putin’s mention of Chinese “concerns” about Ukraine in his talks with Xi and suggested that the “flashy” admission shows Moscow does not have Beijing’s full support for its military campaign.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, said the two countries would do harm to “international peace, stability, democracy and freedom.”