Xi and Putin meet for first time since invasion of Ukraine

[September 15, 2022]  By Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov
 
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping met Vladimir Putin on Thursday in Uzbekistan, their first meeting since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, triggering the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

China's President Xi Jinping and Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attend a welcoming ceremony before their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 15, 2022. Press service of the President of Uzbekistan/Handout via REUTERS

Xi, on his first trip outside China since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, met Putin in the ancient Uzbek Silk Road city of Samarkand where they will attend a attend a summit of The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

The two leaders are due to discuss the war in Ukraine, tensions over Taiwan and the deepening partnership between rising superpower China and natural resources titan Russia.

(Writing by Olzhas Auyezov and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Tomasz Janowski and Hugh Lawson)

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