Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday flexed his country’s ties with India and China ahead of President Trump’s announcement of a planned meeting with Putin in Alaska on Aug. 17. Putin held phone calls with both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday,

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may be seeking to build support among countries that have backed Moscow or remained neutral in the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the leaders of China, India and three ex-Soviet states on Friday in a flurry of calls to brief them on his contacts with the United States about the war in Ukraine.