Japanese and Russian foreign and defense ministers meeting in Tokyo on Thursday accused each others' governments of unacceptable military buildups in the region.

The Japanese say Russia's expanded military presence in the disputed Kuril Islands is "unacceptable," whereas the Russians say Japan's planned installation of a US-made Aegis Ashore missile defense system poses a "potential threat."

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told his counterpart Sergei Lavrov, "Our country's legal position does not accept the missile drills, fighter aircraft deployment, and enhancement of the military presence in the Northern Territories."

Lavrov defended his country's actions, saying, "The Russian armed forces are active on their sovereign territory, and they have the right to do that based on international law."

Japan's US co-operation irks Russians

Lavrov objected to Japan's planned deployment of the Aegis missile defense system, as well as Japan's increased military cooperation with the US.

Russia's largest ever 'war games' underway in the far east Russia's biggest-ever war games Russia's Vostok-2018 (East-2018) military training operation eclipses the Soviet Union's largest-ever exercise, held in 1981. About 300,000 troops, 1,000 airplanes, helicopters and drones, 36,000 combat vehicles and as many as 80 warships were involved this year, according to Russia's Defense Ministry.

Russia's largest ever 'war games' underway in the far east Ready for action Two of the Russian soldiers taking part in the military drills in Primorskyi. Russia's previous military exercise in the region, Vostok-2014, was around half the size, with 155,000 soldiers taking part. The exercises in the east of Russia are usually always larger than those in the west, because they are not limited by the OSCE's Vienna Document which restricts the scale of drills.

Russia's largest ever 'war games' underway in the far east SU-25 flying high A Russian SU-25 attack plane, designed to support ground troops. Russia recently announced that the latest version of the aircraft has entered production. This one is seen flying over a ship during Vostok-2018 military drills at the Klerk training ground in Russia's Primorskyi region.

Russia's largest ever 'war games' underway in the far east Latest generation of weapons As he watched some of the drills, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to "further strengthen" the armed forces and supply them with "the latest-generation weapons and technical equipment" at a time of rising tension in Moscow's ties with Washington and Brussels.

Russia's largest ever 'war games' underway in the far east China, Mongolia take part Some 3,500 Chinese troops will take part in the exercise as well as soldiers from Mongolia. Putin praised Russia's increasingly close ties with China as he met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping ahead of Vostok-2018. The two neighbors have trained together about 30 times since 2003, but this is the first time China has participated at a strategic level.

Russia's largest ever 'war games' underway in the far east Landing troops A Russian military helicopter lands troops on at the Klert training ground in the Primorskyi region. The main aim of the weeklong drills was to check the military's readiness to move troops large distances, to test how closely infantry and naval forces cooperated, and to perfect command and control procedures. They have been condemned by NATO as a rehearsal for "large-scale conflict."

Russia's largest ever 'war games' underway in the far east Zapad 2017 NATO had also raised concerns last year around Zapad-2017 (West-2017) when Russia and Belarus conducted a week of joint drills and deployed soldiers near the territories of the alliance's eastern members. According to official figures, some 12,700 servicemen took part in the drills, just under the 13,000-troop maximum limit permitted under the Vienna Document. Author: Keith Walker



The subject was addressed by Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who told his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu that the system was "purely for defensive purposes and never for use to threaten Russia or other countries."

Japan has been bolstering its missile defense systems as it sees itself under increasing threat from neighboring China and North Korea. In December, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also approved plans to buy F-35 stealth fighter jets and cruise missiles as part of the nation's growing military collaboration with the US.

Watch video 01:20 Japan's first civilian missile evacuation drill

Islands blocking formal end of World War II hostilities

The disputed islands, referred to as the Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by the Japanese, were seized from imperial Japan by the Soviet Union at the close of the Second World War.

Situated between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, just off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the dispute over the islands has kept both countries from formally ending the war in the Pacific.

Prime Minister Abe has been keen to regain the islands in hopes of developing oil, gas, and other natural resources.

Last November, Japanese Prime Minister Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to speed up negotiations — based on a 1956 Soviet proposal — to return the islands to Japan, yet progress has been slow.

Thursday's meeting was convened in a "two plus two" format of two ministers from each country to work out details regarding the islands before Abe and Putin meet at the upcoming G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in late June.

Watch video 00:28 North Korea launches ballistic missile into Sea of Japan

js/sms (AP, dpa)

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