Putin meets China’s Premier Li as Moscow and Beijing deepen their relations

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Chinese premier Li Qiang at the Kremlin. He hailed growing trade relations as Moscow becomes increasingly dependent on Beijing for political and economic support. Their meeting Wednesday took place as Russia struggled to push back an incursion by Ukrainian forces into the Kursk region that began more than two weeks ago. Moscow was targeted the night before in one of the largest drone waves on the Russian capital since the start of the Ukraine conflict. Russian news reports did not indicate whether Putin and Li discussed Ukraine. China has tried to position itself as neutral in the Ukraine conflict, but it shares with Russia high animosity toward the West.