MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Russia will respond immediately if new threats to the security of its Far Eastern borders emerge, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Wednesday.
"We are closely monitoring the development of the situation, and in the case that new circumstances that can create threats to the security of the Russian Federation's Far Eastern borders emerge, we will immediately and duly respond in accordance with national legislation," the diplomat said, commenting on remarks by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who expressed concern over growing military cooperation between Russia and China in the Asia-Pacific region.
Zakharova stressed that Russia has every right to take all necessary steps to ensure security and protect its own sovereignty both independently and together with its strategic partners. "Moscow has been cooperating absolutely constructively with Beijing on this track <...> for decades and, by the way, it is doing this openly, transparently, as diplomats say, and based on mutual respect not only in respect to each other but also with respect to partners in the region," the diplomat said.