Russia and China have staged mock combat drills in the Sea of Japan on Sunday in a show of strengthening ties between the countries.
Although the war games were planned in advance, they come just one day after Donald Trump moved two US nuclear submarines closer to Russia following comments from former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev.
On X, Medvedev accused Trump of “playing the ultimatum game with Russia” and warned that “each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war”.
In response, Trump said that the decision to move the submarines was “just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that”.
According to a statement from the Chinese Defence Ministry, the Joint Sea-2025 naval drills are being carried out near the city of Vladivostok, Russia’s biggest Pacific Ocean port and close to the Chinese and North Korean borders.
The exercises, which will span across three days, will see four Chinese vessels participating, including guided-missile destroyers.
The activities being carried out by the two navies will include “submarine rescue, joint anti-submarine, air defence and anti-missile operations, and maritime combat” alongside a naval patrol of certain areas in the Pacific Ocean.
Despite Moscow and Beijing confirming that no other country is being targeted by their military partnership, Japan have criticised the drills taking place.
Tokyo said that increased military coordination between Russia and China poses a “strong concern” to their national security.
GETTY
|
The Joint Sea-2025 naval drills are being carried out near the city of Vladivostok
Shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin signed a ‘no-limits’ strategic partnership with China.
The two countries regularly conduct joint military exercises to review coordination between their armed forces and to send a message of unity to their adversaries.
After announcing the drills on Wednesday, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for China’s defence ministry, criticised the US for their Air Force drills with their allies in the Pacific.
Zhang accused the US of “blindly flexing its muscles in the Asia-Pacific region and attempting to use military drills as a pretext to gang up, intimidate and pressure other countries, and undermine peace and stability in the region”.
LATEST ON RUSSIA:
GETTY
|
PICTURED: Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping meeting at the Central Asia summit in 2024
China and Russia have been carrying out joint-military exercises for the past two decades, with ‘Joint Sea’ drills taking place since 2012.
The two countries, who have a combined nuclear arsenal exceeding 6,000, have enjoyed increased cooperation in recent years, with Putin and Xi meeting over 40 times in the past decade.
Russian Federal Assembly member, Viktor Vodolatsky, claimed on Friday that there are enough Russian nuclear submarines in the sea to tackle America’s newly moved submarines.
He said: “The number of Russian nuclear submarines in the world’s oceans is significantly higher than the American ones, and the subs that US President Donald Trump ordered to be redirected to the appropriate regions have long been under their control.
“So no response from the Russian Federation to the American leader’s statement about the submarines is required.”
Last week, Trump slapped Russia with a deadline of August 8 to agree a ceasefire over the war in Ukraine, threatening severe sanctions on Moscow and its allies should they not comply.
Trump said that there was “no reason” in waiting any longer with Zelensky labelling the intervention as “extremely significant”.
