From the Asia Times:

Apropos the “correlation of forces” (to use Marxian idiom) in the international arena, Putin has made a big statement. He has shrewdly estimated that Washington is doing all it can to mend fences with Beijing so as to put Moscow at a disadvantage in the highly sensitive triangular equations involving the three powers; that equilibrium must be found through improving Russia’s relations with Europe; that a thaw in chilly Russian-American relations remained unlikely in the short term.

The author also has some good analysis on Russia’s relationship with its key BRIC competitor, India, after the cut.