Russia and China seek no "military alliance," instead a "strategic partnership" of the most...

Russia and China have denied that they are planning to enter into a formal military alliance, even as the two powers increasingly worked together in multiple fields, praised the relationship they forged and now argue it represents a new, higher form of cooperation in the face of troubled ties with the United States.

Delivering his annual big press conference Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was explicit: "We do not have a military alliance with China and we do not plan to create one."

At a time when Moscow and Beijing are involved in more joint endeavors than ever before, Putin said that following in the footsteps of Washington in forging formal defense pacts as the United States did with Japan and South Korea would "be counter-productive, and this does not bode well."

Instead, the Russian leader said, his intention in assisting China with defense projects such as a new missile early warning radar system was to "add new quality to the defense capability of our strategic partner."