North Korea is cozying up to Russia. For China, that may be no bad thing. [Video]

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday appeared to confirm reports that North Korea had sent thousands of troops to eastern Russia.

It pointed to deeper ties between the two authoritarian regimes, which could extend to North Korean soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

Some analysts say North Korea’s main backer, China, will be unhappy about the intensifying of relations.

“There is nothing good for them in this, short or long term,” Victor Cha, a Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told The New York Times.

China’s foreign affairs ministry on Thursday said only that it was “not aware of the relevant situation” between Russia and North Korea.

Experts told Business Insider that the bland statement could mask a situation that is in fact to China’s benefit.

An authoritarian nexus

“Officially, they might not really welcome it, they might see it as an alarming situation,” said Jagannath Panda, head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs.

…