Any such alliance is one of convenience; although circumstances may dictate a gravitation towards Beijing, the Russian nation is European and is part of Europe. The future of the European Union is one in which its territory stretches from Greenland to the Kuril Islands, combining Western know-how with Eastern passion, Western liberal democracy with Eastern ethnic nationalism.

An EU without Russia, one that includes Turkey, or one that is Pan-Arab or Pan-Muslim is a perversion of what should be.

Russia is interested in: (a) maintaining Moscow's influence in the Transcaucuses, (b), preventing Caucasian ethnic conflicts (e.g. South Ossetia, Abkhazia) from spilling across its borders, and (c), halting American encroachment into Central Asia.

While Russia is not hostile to the spread of NATO, liberal democracy, and the EU, it wants to remain a Great Power on a political, if not economic level. I don't see NATO and Russia and Belarus ever going to war at this point, however, it is clear that Russia sees its path to resurgence through its ties with China, whose booming economy can help prop-up the wounded and considerably smaller (than in 1989) bear.

In 1991, the Soviet Armed Forces fielded the largest and most powerful ground forces on Earth; one whose conventional power could only be challenged by NATO's tactical and strategic nuclear deterrents. Today, the Russians have difficulty holding on to Chechnya without using local warlords to keep the peace.

I hope this is true and that Putin leaves them alone. If Georgia is allowed into NATO, as is expected and Putin decides to try and take Georgia back, then that could be a huge conflict.