Putin acknowledges China's "concerns" over war with Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday for his "balanced" approach to the Ukrainian crisis and blasted Washington's "ugly" policies at a meeting that followed a major setback for Moscow on the battlefield. Speaking at the start of talks with Xi in Uzbekistan, Putin also acknowledged unspecified "concerns" by China about Ukraine.

"We highly appreciate the well-balanced position of our Chinese friends in connection with the Ukrainian crisis," Putin said, facing Xi across a long table.

"We understand your questions and your concerns in this regard, and we certainly will offer a detailed explanation of our stand on this issue during today's meeting, even though we already talked about it earlier," he added.