President Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to have their first face-to-face meeting since the start of the Ukraine war today. The 2 leaders/’no limits’ besties are on a rare international trip to Uzbekistan, where they will chat on the sidelines of a trade summit held by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – a security grouping of Eurasian countries, including India and Pakistan. The meeting comes at a critical juncture for Russia and China as they face growing tensions with the West over their respective moves to muscle up in Ukraine and Taiwan – and neither country has condemned the actions of the other. The Kremlin says discussions of trade and economic cooperation will be “particularly important” due to the bite of Western sanctions, and some analysts say Moscow’s recent military setbacks in eastern Ukraine could give Beijing the upper hand in those discussions.#SquizShortcut