BEIJING (Reuters) -Expectations are rock-bottom for an EU-China summit on Thursday that will test European resolve and unity as the bloc faces intense trade pressure from both Beijing and the United States,

"Strengthening air defense capabilities is clearly an urgent priority for Iran at the moment," expert Hongda Fan told Newsweek.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday he does not think the U.S. Congress should consider sanctions on Russia until after President Donald Trump's 50-day deadline for Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s got one trading partner left that still writes big checks:- China. And those checks just got a hell of a lot bigger.

"Cooperation among China, Russia, and India not only aligns with the respective interests of the three countries, but also contributes to regional and global peace, security, stability, and progress," the spokesperson, Lin Jian, told a regular briefing in Beijing.

Russia operations and North Korean threats pose the greatest challenge to global order since World War II, in its annual assessment.

That included a surge of exports from China to Russia, which jumped 63.2% from a year ago to reach $71.8 billion. Imports into China rose at a more modest 13.3% to $83.3 billion.

Russia sought to do this naval drill primarily to show it is still interested in joint cooperation with Iran. Iran and Russia began a naval exercise on Monday.