Putin and Xi, united at Olympics, air shared grievances against absent U.S. amid Ukraine standoff

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met Friday on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics on Friday, a show of solidarity and shared grievance calibrated to challenge the U.S.-led world order amid a tense diplomatic standoff on Ukraine.

Their sweeping joint statement to mark the occasion was a unified blast at the United States — and some of the major impasses between Russia and the West playing out with Moscow’s forces massed near Ukraine’s border.