MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) - Russia needs no military union with China, but one can imagine this in theory, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"Everything can be imagined. We have always thought that our relations have reached such a high degree of cooperation and trust. In general, we do not need this, but we can theoretically imagine this," Putin said at a plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club on Thursday.
"We hold quite regular joint exercises at sea and on the land both in China and in the Russian Federation," Putin said.
Moscow and Beijing are constantly sharing military practices, he said.
Russia and China are actively maintaining military-technical cooperation and pursuing projects on very sensitive matters, the president said.
"Our relations are traditional here, and the volumes are large. This is not only issues of sale and purchase, but also an exchange of technology," Putin said.
"There are very sensitive issues here, and I will not speak of that in public, and our Chinese friends are aware of that. Our cooperation with China is doubtlessly increasing the defense capabilities of the Chinese People's Liberation Army," the president said.
Closer military cooperation cannot be ruled out, he said.
"The life will show how this will be developing. We are not going to rule this out. Let's wait and see," Putin said.