Xi 'sends cold chill down Putin's spine'

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping entered into a strategic partnership just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, in which both proclaimed their friendship to be “without limits’’.

- Marco Giannangeli

RUSSIA’S “new generation of leaders” is increasingly concerned about Moscow’s alliance with China, experts are warning.

And last week they held a two-day conference in Moscow in which they signalled their intention to continue to strive for a “multi-polar world” which eschews Western influence.

But as soon as the mini-conclave was over, Xi sent telegrams to the leaders of all five Central Asian countries, inviting them to participate in the first “ChinaCentral Asia” summit in May.

“And that’s how you send a very cold chill down Putin’s spine,” said regional security expert Prof Alessio Patalano, of King’s College London.