Russia tells Japanese envoy it views deeper US-Japanese military ties as a threat

U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrive to hold a joint press conference in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 10, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

MOSCOW, Russia  – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko warned the Japanese ambassador on Friday that “dangerous trends” in Tokyo’s military cooperation with the United States were posing a threat to stability and security in northeast Asia.

Moscow weighed in after U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday unveiled plans for deeper military cooperation and on projects ranging from missiles to moon landings, strengthening the longstanding alliance between the two countries.

Washington and its allies, including Japan, have been bolstering their militaries to counter what they see as a growing threat from China in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, and to deter any attempt to seize Taiwan.

Biden and Kishida also spoke about the conflict in Ukraine.

Rudenko told Ambassador Akira Muto that Russia judged bilateral relations with Japan had sunk to an “unprecedented low level,” according to a statement from the Russian foreign ministry.

Developments in US-Japanese military cooperation “will be taken into account by the Russian side when forming policy towards Japan and the region as a whole,” Rudenko told the ambassador, it said. — Reuters