Russia protests to Tokyo regarding planned joint military exercises with US

MOSCOW — The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday said it strongly condemned plans by Tokyo to conduct joint military exercises with the United States later this month and in November on territories of Japan near the Russian border.

"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 manoeuvres," the foreign ministry said.

"The Russian side expresses its extreme regret at the short-sighted disregard for our demarches on this topic."

The foreign ministry said it had warned the Japanese embassy in Moscow of "inevitable appropriate countermeasures" Russia will take to protect its sovereignty. — Reuters