China's President Xi Jinping met with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit Thursday.
Why it matters: Their first in-person encounter since Russian forces launched their Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine marks a show of diplomatic support for the Russian president after Ukrainian troops forced his forces to retreat from much of Ukraine's northeast, even as Putin acknowledged that Beijing may have "questions and concerns" regarding the war.
