TEHRAN : The navies of Iran, Russia and China will hold military drills off the coast of Iran this week in a bid to boost cooperation, Iranian media reported on Sunday. The three countries, which share a common desire to counter what they characterise as American hegemony, have held similar exercises in the region in recent years.

US attempts to sow discord between China and Russia were "doomed to fail", Beijing said on Thursday, after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to outline Washington's strategy to dilute ties between the two nuclear-powered neighbours.

China's special envoy for European affairs, Lu Shaye, has said he is "appalled" by US President Donald Trump's treatment of America's European allies. He added that a peace deal for Ukraine should not be decided solely by the US and Russia.

"China is very careful. They're very cautious," Oleksandr Merezhko, head of Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Committee, told Newsweek.

By Ben Aris in Berlin Russia and China’s “no limits” partnership has strengthened considerably over the past three years; they have been driven together by the geopolitical clash between East and West.

As Central Asia becomes a stage for Russian and Chinese rivalry, their political influence and economic investments reshape the region’s dynamics

Russia, Iran and China are set to hold joint naval exercises this month in an effort to ‘deepen military mutual trust’ between the three nations. China’s defence ministry announced the news today as exercises are set to begin tomorrow. Iran’s Tasnim news agency said drills will begin tomorrow in the southeastern Iranian port of Chabahar.

President Donald Trump’s rapprochement with Russia has some experts suggesting he might be trying to do a “reverse Nixon” and isolate Beijing by courting Moscow.

Keith Kellogg warns of a growing security threat from a deepening alliance between Tehran, Moscow, Beijing and Pyongyang.

The call, which took place as Kyiv marked the third anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion, stands as a clear message from Beijing that its relations with its key diplomatic partner will not be shaken by Washington’s warming relations with the Kremlin.

Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Russia's TASS state news agency reported on Friday.

In the early 2000s, Russia and China had heeded US preferences regarding the Korean Peninsula by engaging in multilateralism with the Six-Party Talks to deal