News Snapshot:
Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed relations with Russia as better than an alliance in a video call with President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin, as the two leaders made a show of solidarity amid rising tensions with the West. Xi “said that although they are not allied, their effectiveness even exceeds this level,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters at a briefing after Wednesday’s call. “Such a figurative expression very accurately reflects the essence of what is happening now in relations between our two countries.” Calling Putin an “old friend,” Xi said the Russian leader had “firmly...
