Russia announces joint military drills with China

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Monday that it will be carrying out military drills with China between September 1-7, the Associated Press reports. The Ministry specified that the exercise is “purely defensive.”

Next month’s Vostok 2022 (East 2022) drill will not be the first joint exercise, as Russia and China have carried out several joint military in recent years: these have included naval drills and patrols by long-range bombers over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, AP said.

The Vostok 2022 exercise will take place at locations in Russia’s Far East and the Sea of Japan, with over 50,000 troops and more than 5,000 weapons units, including 140 fighter jets and 60 warships, AP reports.

The Russian and Chinese navies will meet in northern and southern parts of the Sea of Japan to “practice joint action to protect sea communications, areas of marine economic activity and support for ground troops in littoral areas,” AP said.

Offering assurance that no new war is being planned while Russia is still in the process of invading Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Fomin said in a statement to foreign military attaches: “The exercise isn’t directed against any specific countries or military alliances and is purely defensive.”

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