Japan launched fighters on Thursday after detecting two Russian reconnaissance planes near its shores, one in the Pacific Ocean and the other in the Sea of Japan, the Japanese army said. in a brief statement. This incident, which is not the first of its kind, comes a few days after the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the G7 summit which was organized in Hiroshima, in western Japan, and during which all the members of this group reaffirmed their support for Kiev in the face of the Russian invasion.
Japan views Russia as a serious threat to domestic security
Japan has been enforcing economic and financial sanctions imposed on Russia by the G7 and other Western countries since its offensive in Ukraine began 15 months ago. While it had in the past sought to improve its relations with Moscow, Japan now regards Russian military power in the Far East and its cooperation with China as a serious threat to the security of its territory.
Russia now considers Japan a ‘hostile’ country
In May 2022, Russian and Chinese fighter jets flew together near Japan just after a meeting in Tokyo of the leaders of the “Quad”, an informal security alliance in Asia-Pacific bringing together the United States, Japan, the Australia and India. And more recently, Russia conducted military maneuvers in the Sea of Japan that involved missile launches.
Russia now considers Japan a “hostile” country, like all the countries of the European Union, the United States and other of its allies such as the United Kingdom and Australia. Before the war in Ukraine, Japan already had complicated and sometimes fresh relations with Russia.
The two countries did not sign a peace treaty after the Second World War, all efforts in this direction having been blocked by a territorial dispute concerning the Kuril Islands of the South, occupied then annexed by Moscow at the end of this conflict. and what Japan calls the “Northern Territories”.