Russia and US troops in separate drills in Balkans

Serbia and Russia launched joint military exercises on Thursday as US-led forces held massive drills in neighboring Balkan states. The exercise at a training ground near Belgrade comes as large-scale US Army-led drills dubbed Defender-Europe are held across Europe, including most of Serbia's neighbors. The U.S. Army has said that the joint exercises, which include approximately 28,000 multinational forces, are designed to build readiness and interoperability between U.S., NATO and partner militaries. Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership, but has been forging close military, economic and political ties with both Russia and China.