Ufa: Welcoming China's leader to two summits in the Russian city of Ufa, President Vladimir Putin says Russia and China can overcome their countries' difficulties by working together.
Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both arrived today for summits of the BRICS trade group and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The summits, held 1,170 kilometers (725 miles) east of Moscow, come as the Russian and Chinese economies are undergoing major strains. Russia's economy has contracted and its currency has sunk due to the fall in world oil prices and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. China, after a yearslong bull market, has seen its benchmark stock index drop some 30 percent in the past month.
Putin said "combining efforts, no doubt we will overcome all the problems before us."
