SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan: Chinese President Xi Jinping met Vladimir Putin on Thursday in Uzbekistan, their first meeting since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, triggering the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.Xi, on his first trip outside China since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, met Putin in the ancient Uzbek Silk Road city of Samarkand where they will attend a attend a summit of The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).The two leaders are due to discuss the war in Ukraine, tensions over Taiwan and the deepening partnership between rising superpower China and natural resources titan Russia.