HANOI, December 10. /TASS/. Moscow cannot ignore Japan’s belligerent policy and the military exercises that occur near Russian shores, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said.
He pointed to "almost constant provocations." "In a relatively short period, very short, Japan went from being a country with no right to have its own armed forces to a nation that makes the decisions it makes today, with the new prime minister calling for a defense spending level of 2% [of GDP]," Shoigu noted. In his opinion, "the two-percent level is what had been established before Donald Trump took office as US president and raised it to five percent. It’s the level approved by NATO. So this is where Japan is heading step by step," the Russian Security Council secretary noted.
"We certainly cannot ignore the weapons that the US, in particular, leaves here after drills. I’m talking about missiles and decisions to deploy missiles to Japanese ships," Shoigu stressed.
"When we see intensified drills here in the Asia-Pacific region and squadrons of ships passing by our shores in a deliberate manner - while they really have no business here - it is certainly alarming," the Russian Security Council secretary emphasized.