Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have arrived in the Uzbek city of Samarkand for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The Chinese president’s visit to Uzbekistan marks his first trip abroad in more than two and a half years. Later on Thursday, he is expected to meet Putin for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine. As Beijing and Moscow become increasingly isolated from the West, observers will watch for clues as to just how close Putin and Xi have become after nearly seven months of war in Ukraine, or whether their relationship is on shaky…