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If Vladimir Putin had hoped for validation from China for his "special military operation" in Ukraine as he met the Chinese premier Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a regional summit in Uzbekistan this Thursday, then he didn't get it.

Just an affirmation published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry that China would work with Russia to "play a leading role in injecting stability into a world of change and disorder".

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Eight months ago as President Xi welcomed his Russian counterpart to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the two men promised each other a "friendship without limits".

Then came 24 February and President Xi found himself in a conundrum, closely aligned with a country which had contravened the core principle of non-interference in domestic affairs which is precisely what China is so sensitive about vis-a-vis Taiwan, which it considers part of China.

Suddenly the risk of secondary sanctions coloured China's economic ties with its neighbour. China has continued to buy Russian oil and supply Russia with the goods that it needs, but it has been careful not to engage with anything which would bolster President Putin's "special operation" in Ukraine or risk repercussions from Western trading partners.

In a surprising admission in Samarkand, President Putin promised to address China's "questions and concerns" around the crisis in Ukraine. It was an indication that there are some, which China has never made explicit.

For all the video released at the summit of a smiling Vladimir Putin, shaking hands with world leaders still prepared to shake hands with him, there was no footage of a Putin-Xi handshake and precious little from their talks together.

"I don't think that China right now wants to be really associated with Russia", says Temur Umarov, an analyst with Moscow's Carnegie Centre.

"That's why the first visit that Xi Jinping makes outside of the country in almost three years was not Russia or Moscow but Central Asia - first Kazakhstan, then Uzbekistan. Neutral territory where he comes as a guest to the summit and not to meet Vladimir Putin".

Russia's foreign minister described the meeting in glowing terms: ''We see eye to eye on the international situation, we don't have any differences here", Sergei Lavrov said in an interview on Russian state TV cited by Interfax.

"We will continue coordinating our actions, including at the upcoming UN General Assembly."

And even though in Samarkand there was no public mention of Ukraine from the Chinese side, the Russia-Chinese partnership still counts for something.

In a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna demanding Russia end its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, only China and Russia voted against.

A "Moscow-Beijing tandem", as Vladimir Putin called it today, with considerable weight.