The proposed summit was announced in Washington and Paris hours after the United States issued a fresh warning that Russian forces were poised for an attack on Ukraine within days.

Production at the factory in Ditsi was delayed for a year and a half as the boundary line between Georgian-controlled territory and the breakaway region of South Ossetia runs through the village.

While it is tempting to view their meeting as the apex of a newly rejigged axis of power, in reality, Putin returned from Beijing with few concrete measures to offer to his people, though both he and Xi gained an additional boost to their symbolic partnership.