The Russian president has launched the biggest naval exercises in which China is also participating, warning the US not to try to show superiority over Moscow in Asia, reported Reuters.
Putin said Russia must be ready for any development and accused Washington of provoking an arms race. According to him, the US is preparing to deploy short- and medium-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.
Russian and Chinese warships met in the Sea of Japan to participate in joint exercises, the Russian Defense Ministry said earlier today, as quoted by Reuters.
The drills are part of wider command and staff strategic maneuvers that Russia began today, which span the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean, Baltic and Caspian Seas.
Ships of the Russian Navy and the Naval Forces of the People's Liberation Army of China met in the waters of the northern part of Peter the Great Bay near Vladivostok to jointly participate in the strategic command and staff exercises "Ocean-2024", the statement said. of the Russian department, quoted by the Russian state news agency TASS.
The Ministry of Defense noted that the parties discussed the immediate action plan, formed a joint force of ships and began to carry out the tasks set for the exercise.
Earlier it was reported that among the tasks of the strategic command and staff exercise "Ocean-2024" is to test the readiness of the command staff of the Russian Navy to manage heterogeneous groups of forces, as well as the integrated use of high-precision weapons.
More than 400 Russian ships and submarines and 90,000 personnel are participating in the exercises, and on the Chinese side, four warships and one supply ship are participating in the joint maneuvers, the Russian Ministry of Defense specifies.