PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin reassured Asian leaders of Russia's stability and unity in his first appearance at an international forum since the country was rocked by a brief armed mutiny last month. "The Russian people are consolidated as never before," Putin told a virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a group that also includes China and India. "Russian political circles and the whole of society clearly demonstrated their unity and an elevated sense of responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland when they responded as a united front against an attempted armed mutiny." Putin's emphasis on Russia's unity at…