China, Russia start joint naval drills, days after NATO allies called Beijing a Ukraine war enabler

BEIJING (AP) — China and Russia’s naval forces have kicked off a joint exercise at a military port in southern China on Sunday, official news agency Xinhua reported, days after NATO allies called Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war in Ukraine. The Chinese defense ministry said in a brief statement Sunday that forces from both sides recently patrolled the western and northern Pacific Ocean and that the operation had nothing to do with international and regional situations and didn’t target any third party. State broadcaster CCTV had reported that the joint drills aimed to demonstrate the capabilities of the navies in addressing security threats.