As the war grinds on in the Ukraine, China makes periodic headlines as it interacts with Mr. Putin regarding positions that they will take. There have been indications that they would support Mr. Putin from a supply perspective, but of course, no indication that they would take any military action. The real truth is that China’s leaders want to shield themselves from economic and diplomatic fallout which could easily occur if they support Putin too openly. Russia is a relatively small trade partner with China, and they desperately need to continue large scale exporting to the United States and Europe, which gives us some leverage in this process.