A Chinese military inspection team visited Russian facilities as President Putin hailed the two nations as 'natural allies'. The inspection, part of a long-standing mechanism, occurred amid deepening military cooperation described as non-hostile.

A PLA inspection team visited several facilities in Russia’s Eastern Military District this week, including an air defence missile unit in the far-eastern Jewish Autonomous Region, Russian media reported. The visit, conducted under a decades-old confidence-building mechanism, came as President Vladimir Putin described China and Russia as “natural allies and partners”, while emphasising that their deepening military cooperation was not directed against any third party. The June 2-3 inspection...