The two presidents will gather for a rare personal meeting at a summit of the strong rulers of Asia, while Putin's armed forces in Ukraine suffer shaking losses.
Analysts, however, say that Mr. XI, who is leaving China for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, will not agree to break a promise, not to send any urgently needed weapons to his increasingly desperate allies.
The old desert city of Samarkand on the Silk Road in Uzbekistan was ordered this week for a security lock for the leaders.
schools and countless public offices have closed for three days of vacation, the airport was closed and train tickets to Samarkand can be bought - as long as their name is on the list.
Mr. XI and Mr. Putin will welcome the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, a gathering of Asia's strong leaders, which is referred to as the "Dictators' Club". In theory, NATO's alliance could do something, but it lacks the same security guarantees, which is why it is often dismissed as largely irrelevant.
Putin and XI promised friendship without limits
Mr. Putin and Mr. XI last saw themselves a few weeks before the invasion of Ukraine when both promised a friendship without limits. But the warfare in Ukraine has shown that the Kremlin overestimated Beijings for Moscow.
"The Russians are now completely aware that a friendship without limits, how it has been proclaimed, is really a friendship without advantages," said Mark Galeotti, an author of Russia and director of the consulting company Mayak Intelligence, to The Telegraph.
"The Chinese will do nothing to help the Russians at their own expense."
The invasion of Russia in Ukraine has neither expressly supported nor convicted, but instead used it as an opportunity to condemn the West to unleash and fuel an economic war against Russia. From the beginning,Beijing has made it clear that weapon sales or any material support for war efforts are completely taboo. And nothing will have changed.
If at all, China could be more hesitant than ever, to put on hand.
The economic shock that the West inflicted on- from the interruption of the transport connections and the blocking of the Russian's Visa and MasterCard bank cards to the freezing of the assets of the Russian central bank abroad- was a warning example for China.
It showed how easy it can be to become a complete paria and the Kremlin if you suddenly decide to penetrate a neighboring country.
Chinese companies, from banks to technology companies, treat Russia as a toxic business goal and shy away from being punished for the bypass of western sanctions.
Even Russia's hopes that China's technology company such as Huawei could easily replace western imports, quickly evaporated.
Russia risked to become China's junior partner
China's technology giant closed his Moscow office early in the war and made it clear that he would not even sell Russia smartphones. The sale of microchips that the Russian military urgently needs for its high-tech weapons is completely excluded.
A Kremlin consultant said on Tuesday that Moscow had said that China "understands the reasons that have forced Russia to start his special military operation".
and China's top diplomat said on Tuesday that it was ready to work with Russia to bring the global order "in a more fairer and more sensible direction".
But in reality, Russia's catastrophic war in Ukraine, which has already cost thousands of human life, an international reputation and hundreds of millions of foreign currencies to turn Russia into China's junior partner in Central Asia
Mr. XI has selected a summit of the SCO in Samarkand for his first trip abroad since the time before the Covid pandemic.
He finally leaves China just one month before his expected third term as chairman of the China Communist Party, which China could be the longest in reigning communist leader since Mao Zedong.