Russian Pacific Fleet warships set for joint naval drills with China

VLADIVOSTOK, May 14 (Itar-Tass) - Warships from Russia's Pacific Fleet, led by a missile cruiser, the Varyag, are set to leave off the country’s Far East coast on Wednesday for joint naval drills with China, code-named Joint Sea 2014 and running on May 20-26 in the northern waters of the East China Sea. Besides The Varyag, a Slava-class missile cruiser with anti-aircraft and anti-submarine striking capabilities, the grouping of Russian warships includes the destroyer Bystry, the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleyev, the large amphibious ship Admiral Nevelskoy, the tanker Ilim and the sea-going tugboat Kalar. The Chinese Navy put six warships for the upcoming large-scale drills with Russia. China’s Xinhua news agency earlier cited a statement from the country’s Defense Ministry as saying that “the Joint Sea 2014 drills are regular exercises held by Chinese and Russian navies, and are aimed to enhance practical co-operation between the two militaries and to strengthen their capabilities to jointly deal with maritime security threats.” The two nations held naval drills off Russia’s Far East coast in the Sea of Japan last July. Exercises assembling some 20 warships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet and China’s North and South Sea Fleets were described by China as the largest the country had undertaken with a foreign force. The upcoming drills coincide with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to China on May 20. The Russian president is scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and attend a regional summit. Learn more on itar-tass.com