cameron on how robert fico rose to dominate slovak politics.bbc news website or app. to china now, where russia's president putin is on a state visit — his first foreign trip since his unprecedented re—election for a fifth term, and his second visit to china in six months. a short while ago, he and china's president, xijinping, signed a joint declaration, stressing the two countries' strategic partnership. in his opening remarks, the chinese president talked about the two countries' long history, saying the nations deepening mutual trust, and support for one another. president xi also said he and president putin agreed on the need for a "political solution" to the ukraine conflict. president putin thanked china for a "warm" reception, adding that the talks were also "pragmatic". let's cross live to beijing and speak with our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, who has been watching the two leaders. so ukraine was discussed, what would be your assessment of the message the two leaders were giving today? well, the overall message is just all a