Doha: The Russian and Chinese naval forces embarked on joint military drills on Sunday, featuring live-fire artillery exercises and anti-submarine warfare operations, as part of efforts to enhance defense cooperation between the two nations. Russia's Interfax news agency cited the command of Russia's Pacific Fleet as saying that warships from both navies are maneuvering to form a unified joint detachment within joint drills that include a Russian giant anti-vessel ship, alongside two Chinese destroyers.

According to Qatar News Agency, the drills encompass artillery firing, implementation of air defense and anti-submarine warfare missions, in addition to enhancing joint search and rescue capabilities in maritime environments. These operations fall under a broader set of maneuvers dubbed "Maritime Interaction 2025," and are scheduled to continue through next Tuesday, Interfax reported.

Both countries, which signed a "no-limits" strategic partnership shortly before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, hold regular military drills aimed at bolstering coordination between their armed forces.

The move came following the order issued by US President Donald Trump to deploy two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, in response to what he described as extremely provocative statements by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the risk of nuclear war between two nuclear-armed adversaries.