Russia protests US-Japanese military drills near its borders

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russia’s Foreign Ministry lodged a strong protest Wednesday against joint military exercises held by the US and Japan near Russia's borders.

The ministry said in a statement that it conveyed the protest against the Japanese-American exercise Orient Shield that took place from July 18-26 to the Japanese Embassy in Moscow, emphasizing the "categorical inadmissibility of such provocative military activity," which is seen by Moscow as a potential threat to its security.

The ministry said a warning was issued about the adoption of adequate countermeasures to strengthen the defense capability and protect the sovereignty of Russia.

In a separate statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized plans to hold a Japan-Central Asia summit with the participation of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Zakharova argued that Tokyo is trying to take root in Central Asia with the goal of undermining ties between regional states and Russia to "pull" them towards the Western ideology of a "rules-based order," which has "anti-Russian and anti-Chinese overtones."

She reminded Central Asian states about Russia's experience of cooperation with Japan, saying by offering its "development assistance," Tokyo pursues the interests of its own corporations in the first turn, trying to ensure their unhindered access to emerging markets, thereby making recipients dependent on external capital and technology.

The priority directions of the new cooperation program announced in the media only confirm that the Japanese side pursues the political goal of imposing the Western energy and climate agenda, she said.

"We have no doubt that our partners from Central Asia, with their wisdom, will be able to distinguish approaches in favor of mutually beneficial cooperation from plans to reduce their countries to the position of a neocolonial appendage of the Western camp.

"We hope that the destructiveness of such a prospect and the serious costs of losing full-blooded ties with Russia are quite obvious to them," she added.