Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses the United States of provoking an “arms race” and says Russia must be “prepared for any development.”
This Tuesday, Russia and China began joint military maneuvers in the Sea of Japan. This is a broader exercise, called “Ocean 2024“, which will be developed simultaneously in the Pacific and Arctic, Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic oceans. Last July Russia and China They carried out a smaller scale version of the current deployment.
“The objective of the exercises is to check in detail the key aspects of the combat preparation“, said the russian president Vladimir Putin addressing one of the military detachments participating in the exercises.
“We pay special attention to strengthening military cooperation with friendly countries. Today, in the context of growing geopolitical tensions in the world, this is especially important,” he added. Last March China, Iran and Russia held joint exercises in the Gulf of Oman.
Putin accuses the US of “provoking an arms race”
“Under the pretext of counteracting the alleged russian threat existing and contain the People’s Republic of China, the United States and its satellites are increasing their military presence near Russia’s western borders, in the Arctic and in the Asia-Pacific region,” Putin said, underlining that “Russia must be prepared for any evolution of the situation”.
Putin stated that the “war games“, which are expected to last until September 16, are the largest of their kind in three decades. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, more than 90,000 soldiers, more than 400 warships, submarines and naval vessels are participating in the exercises. support and 120 planes and helicopters.
In January, NATO carried out the largest military exercise from the Cold war with a deployment of 90,000 troops.
Additional sources • Enrique Barrueco (Voice-over)
