Pandemic break- Xi Jinping to leave China to meet Vladimir Putin

The most powerful Chinese leader Xi Jinping will leave China this week for the first time in more than two years for a trip to Central Asia where he will meet Vladimir Putin. He will meet Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s summit in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, according to Kazakhstan and the Kremlin.

The meeting will give President Xi an opportunity to underscore his clout while Putin can demonstrate Russia’s tilt towards Asia; both leaders can show their opposition to the United States just as the West seeks to punish Russia for the Ukraine war. Russia suffered its worst defeat of the war last week, abandoning its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine.