Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin meet in Uzbekistan as Ukraine war dominates

Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to Chinese President Xi Jinping (Alexandr Demyanchuk, Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo/AP)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin have met for talks about boosting ties between their countries – an encounter that follows a major setback for Moscow on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The two leaders met in Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the eight-nation Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO), a security alliance created as a counterweight to US influence that also includes India, Pakistan and four ex-Soviet nations in Central Asia.