Speaking at a university a day after he and Chinese President Hu Jintao criticized U.S. missile defense plans, Medvedev rejected what he said was opposition to Russian-Chinese cooperation in remarks that sounded like a veiled jab at the United States.
"Some don't like such strategic cooperation between our countries, but we understand that this cooperation serves the interests of our people, and we will strengthen it, regardless of whether others like it or not," the Russian leader said. "Russian-Chinese relations are one of the most important factors of maintaining stability in modern conditions."
The former Cold War-era rivals have forged close political, military and commercial ties since the Soviet collapse, trying to counter what they see as U.S. global dominance.
On Friday, Medvedev and Hu said they want to see the peaceful use of space and reject the deployment of weapons there, a reference to U.S. plans for an orbiting missile-defense system.
In Saturday's appearance at elite Tsinghua University, Hu's alma mater, Medvedev never mentioned the United States by name and said the Russian-Chinese alliance "is not directed against any other nation.
"It is aimed at maintaining a global balance," he said.
Medvedev said Russia and China support international law and a "decisive role" for the United Nations. Moscow has criticized Washington and other Western governments of abusing international law in Iraq and Kosovo.
Russia also strengthened its role as a supplier to China's booming nuclear power industry Friday, signing a $1 billion deal to build a fuel enrichment facility and supply uranium.
The joint Russian-Chinese criticism of missile defense plans appeared to raise the stakes for Washington, which has been trying to persuade Beijing and especially Moscow not to see them as a threat.
The diplomatic cooperation masks Russian unease at China's growing power and differences over military and energy sales.
The White House said Friday that it is disappointed that Medvedev has not changed the opposition expressed by his predecessor, Vladimir Putin.
"We're going to work with them to work through these concerns, and we think we can resolve any concerns that anyone has about this and the true nature of the program," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.
After a slow warming in the 1990s, Beijing and Moscow have in recent years joined together in opposing Kovoso's independence and on Iran's nuclear crisis. The two have held joint military maneuvers on each other's turf and created a regional security grouping, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to keep the West out of energy-rich Central Asia.
Statements of cooperation and support come aside friction and uncertainties over energy, while the countries' shifting economic and diplomatic fortunes also bedevil ties.
Medvedev stopped in Kazakhstan en route to China, apparently trying to send a message to both Beijing and the West that Moscow sees former Soviet Central Asia as its home turf.
Asked about energy relations between Russia, China and Kazakhstan, the Russian leader said, "energy is an important part of our dialogue." He added that Russia and China could use the Shanghai security group to promote energy projects.
Moscow and Beijing also have bickered over the price of Russian energy exports. Disagreements over pricing have slowed construction of an oil pipeline from Siberia and blocked plans for a natural gas pipeline. A separate pipeline to Russia's Pacific coast will force China to compete with Japan for Siberian crude.
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