mentality, and accused the u.s. and the west of stoking instability. this is just a further sign of the strengthening ties between china and russia. economically, on trade, on energy, as well as in a diplomatic front, and it comes at such an important time for russia, at a time when they are engaged in a diplomatic show down with the west over ukraine, and china expressing sympathy to what they have called legitimate security concerns. but important to note, kate, here, that china is in a delicate position because they want to maintain strong ties with russia, but at the same time, experts say they do not want to see ukraine russia conflict, they would prefer stability. putin at the opening ceremony joined by a list of vips, that's heavy on autocratic and strong leaders. leaders like crown prince saudi arabia, as well as the leaders of egypt, turkmenistan, and tajikistan, a far cry from 2008 when we saw george w. bush in the stands with chinese leaders.