Putin and Xi. One is reminded of the Hitler-Stalin Pact and, of course, the huge Russian-Chinese tensions of the 1960s. Moscow and Beijing are now, as they were then, extremely authoritarian regimes that use force both internally and externally. China in Tibet or Hong Kong, Russia after Syria now on its doorstep.
And both Moscow and Peking are very afraid of free speech and free elections. That's why the blows of bludgeons are raining down in Hong Kong and the missiles in Kiev.