Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday arrived in Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, as the two heads of state are widely expected to make a great show of their growing friendship as tensions over Ukraine remain high. China has been supportive of Russia in the crisis so far, and also wants to see Russian security interests safeguarded and opposes the expansion of military blocs such as NATO. Shortly before his trip, Putin highlighted Russia’s friendship with China and with Xi in interviews with Chinese state media. The Russian president is travelling to Beijing for the ope…