China has little cause to worry about the US-Russia rapprochement, according to observers, who say the Asian neighbours' shared strategic goal to counter the West and their deep economic ties make for a partnership that is hard to break.

Monday marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war — which the Kremlin once characterized as a “special military operation” to discipline an insubordinate neighbor — has sprawled across hundreds of miles of front lines,