Sri Lanka, May 20 -- China and Russia's leaders are set to meet for a summit in Beijing on Wednesday featuring discussions on bilateral and international issues, capped by an intimate tete-a-tete between "old friends" over tea.

Coming on the heels of US President Donald Trump's visit to the Chinese capital, the optics and outcomes of the meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be closely scrutinised and compared.

Xi is known for hosting visiting leaders over tea, but the setting and manner of such encounters can be viewed as a signal of the Chinese leader's regard for his guest.

When Xi hosted Putin for talks in May 2024, the pair ditched their ties as they spoke over tea outdoors in Zhongnan...