VLADIMIR Putin relished a red carpet reception in China ahead of a meeting of the "Axis of Evil" - including North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

But Vlad's field trip didn't bring a let up in his campaign of misery against Ukraine , with bombs battering civilian and naval targets overnight.

Putin trotted off his presidential plane and strolled down the carpet for his longest foreign trip in more than a decade at the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin.

China's President Xi Jinping is hosting talks between the leaders of China, India , Russia , Pakistan, Iran , Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

Next week, they will be joined by others including North Korea's Kim - to complete the "Axis of Evil" - for a massive parade.

Kim, in C

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