MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/. Russia’s Pacific Fleet has initiated the development of forces within the exercise, which will take place on June 18-28 and will involve approximately 40 ships and vessels, the fleet press office said.

"The Pacific Fleet forces have initiated the deployment from their base locations to designated areas within the planned bilateral exercise, which will take place on June 18-28 in the Pacific Ocean, in seas of Japan and Okhotsk under the general management of the Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Viktor Liina," the statement says.

The Fleet explained that this is the first time this exercise is considered bilateral, because it involves a scenario of the Primorskaya Flotilla of Diverse Forces and the joint command of Forces in Russia’s Northeast.