Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said today that the joint US-South Korean military exercises "Freedom Shield" (Freedom Shield) are tantamount to "overt preparations for war", Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Washington and Seoul held their annual large-scale joint military exercises in South Korea between March 9 and 19, announcing that they were defensive and designed to test readiness to repel potential military threats from North Korea.
"Officially, they were announced as defensive, but judging by the tasks worked out during them, as well as the military equipment deployed, the exercises in question are, of course, nothing more than overt preparations for war. It is obvious that such military activity by Washington and Seoul does nothing to reduce the tension, which the South Korean authorities are at least trying to achieve in words," Zakharova noted, quoted by TASS.