MOSCOW — The Russian Foreign Ministry sharply opposed Tokyo’s plans to conduct joint military drills with the United States on Japanese territory near the Russian border later this month and in November.
“The Japanese side has been informed of the categorical unacceptability of this practice, the scale of which is expanding every year, including through the involvement of non-regional NATO member states in the maneuvers,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
“The Russian side expresses its extreme regret at the short-sighted disregard for our demarches on this topic.”
The foreign ministry stated that it had warned the Japanese embassy in Moscow about the “inevitable appropriate countermeasures” that Russia would take to preserve its sovereignty.