Russia has protested to Japan about Tokyo's plans to hold joint military exercises on the island of Hokkaido and accused Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of placing his country "on a path to dangerous escalation." The Russian Foreign Ministry on June 28 said a protest had been issued to the Japanese Embassy in connection with the announcement that drills would be held with Germany and Spain later this month. The ministry said Tokyo was told it was "categorically unacceptable" to engage in military activity off Russia's Far Eastern coast, particularly taking into account the participation of NATO members located far from the region. "We view such activity as a potential threat to the security of the Russian Federation," the ministry said.
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