Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in China for meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The visit comes less than a week after U.S.

While this meeting comes just days after Beijing hosted the US president, the Kremlin insists there is "no correlation" between the visits.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had warm words for "old friend" Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, describing their relationship in personal terms and dismissing the notion that the war in Ukraine had driven a Russian "pivot" toward the East Asian power.