MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. Russia has protested to Japan over plans to hold war games near the Russian border and warned it about comparable countermeasures to bolster its defense capabilities, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"On June 28, Japan’s embassy to Russia was handed a strong protest over the Japanese authorities’ plans to conduct a string of military exercises jointly with Germany and Spain on Hokkaido Island - very close to the borders of the Russian Federation - from July 19 to 25," the ministry said.

"It was emphasized that the irresponsible policy of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration puts Tokyo on the path of dangerous escalation in Northeast Asia and in the entire Asia Pacific Region," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "We have warned them about adequate countermeasures to reinforce defense capabilities and protect the sovereignty of the Russian Federation."

The Japanese side "was told that provocative military activity next to the Far Eastern borders of our country, conducted also in cooperation with extra-regional countries - NATO members - is categorically inadmissible," the statement said.

"We regard such activity as a potential threat to the security of the Russian Federation," the ministry said.