The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. December 15, 2021 Presidents Putin and Xi Meet Amid Mounting Tensions with U.S. ------------------------------------------------------------- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met via video call today as part of a virtual summit. Putin hailed the cooperation between the two nations, citing mutual principles of "not interfering in [each other's] internal affairs and respect for each other's interests." The talks come as both China and Russia are facing heightened tensions with the U.S. and other Western powers. Putin also said he plans to meet with his Chinese counterpart during the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics. The U.S. and other governments have announced a diplomatic boycott of the games.