“They weren’t particularly flexible or sympathetic in a way during that period,” Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said Thursday. “I suspect there’s not going to be an easy way out for President Putin as he looks to try to deal with these economic consequences – not from the Chinese, not from anyone else.” (Susan Walsh/AP) The brutality of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has “unsettled” President Xi Jinping and spurred fissures between Russia and China, U.S. intelligence believes, undermining concerted public efforts by the two powers to appear aligned in their respective efforts to grab power internationally. [...