A vaunted ‘new era’ of strategic partnership between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Xi Jinping may not exactly have been sealed with a kiss, but it did lead to rare hugs between them.
Putin headed to Beijing earlier this week in what was his first trip abroad since his March re-election and the second in just over six months to China.
Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showing the leaders enjoying the uncharacteristic embrace in the evening air of the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in the Chinese capital as aides and officials fawned and clapped from the sidelines.
Putin then flew to the Russian-influenced city of Harbin in the northeast, where he was due to spend Friday before returning to Moscow.
Hours earlier the leaders had signed a lengthy statement that sharpened their opposition to a US-led world order and pledged cooperation across fields ranging from space and nuclear technologies to finance and manufacturing.
