Russia-China navy drills begin in Russia's Black Sea port

An official ceremony in Novorossiysk has opened the Joint Sea 2015 naval drills in the Mediterranean, which will feature ten combat ships from Russia and China, press service of the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"An official opening ceremony took place this morning in Novorossiysk," the press service said. "The joint drills are not aimed against third parties and are not connected with the political situation in that region. The Joint Sea will feature about ten combat ships of various classes from Russia and China."

The ceremony involved Russian Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov and Chinese Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Du Czinchen, representatives of the drills’ joint headquarters, crews of Russian combat ship - The Pytlivyi escort ship, The Samum missile hovercraft and a detachment of warships of the Chinese navy - The Linyi and The Weifang frigates, as well as soldiers of the local garrison.

"In the afternoon, the Russian and Chinese parties will discuss planning documents, commanders will give tasks to the participants and will study tasks’ episodes on the map," the Defense Ministry said.

At the opening of the drills, Vice-Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov and Vice-Admiral Du Czinchen said the Joint Sea 2015 , whose active phase will take place in the Mediterranean Sea, will favor further improvement of friendly and practical cooperation between the countries, improvement of joint countering threats for security, the ministry said.