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Russia flies bomber planes near Japan

The timing of the flight appeared more pointed than usual with Kishida’s Kyiv visit


March 22, 2023 00:00:00


Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber takes off in an unknown location to perform a flight over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan, in this still image taken from video released on Tuesday — Reuters

MOSCOW, Mar 21 (Reuters/AP): Two Russian strategic bomber planes flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday in a statement.

The Tupolev Tu-95MS planes are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and Moscow regularly flies them over international waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic and Pacific as a show of strength.

Japanese national broadcaster NHK showed Kishida boarding a train at the Polish town of Przemysl near the Ukraine border.

Russia said the strategic bombers made a "planned flight", escorted by fighter planes. It was carried out in strict compliance with international law and was made over neutral waters, the defence ministry said.

In February, North American air defence forces were sent to intercept several Russian strategic bombers and fighter jets as they flew over international airspace near Alaska.

Japan, which has its own territorial dispute with Moscow over islands in the north Pacific that dates back to the end of World War Two, is a key Asian ally of the United States and a member of the Group of Seven rich democracies, and has joined Western sanctions against Russia.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began a surprise visit to Ukraine early Tuesday, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in neighboring Russia for a three-day visit. The dueling summits come as the longtime rivals are on diplomatic offensives. Kishida will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital.

He will "show respect to the courage and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing up to defend their homeland under President Zelenskyy's leadership, and show solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine as head of Japan and chairman of G-7," during his visit to Ukraine, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in announcing his trip to Kyiv.

At the talks, Kishida will show his "absolute rejection of Russia's one-sided change to the status quo by invasion and force, and to affirm his commitment to defend the rules-based international order," the ministry's statement said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Xi to the Kremlin on a visit both nations describe as an opportunity to deepen their "no-limits friendship."

Japanese public television channel NTV showed Kishida riding a train from Poland heading to Kyiv. His surprise trip to Ukraine comes just hours after he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, and the week after a breakthrough summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yoel. In New Delhi, Kishida called for developing and Global South countries to raise their voices to defend the rules-based international order and help stop Russia's war.

Japan, which has territorial disputes over islands with both China and Russia, is particularly concerned about the close relationship between Beijing and Moscow, which have conducted joint military exercises near Japan's coasts.

Kishida, who is to chair the Group of Seven summit in May, is the only G-7 leader who hasn't visited Ukraine and was under pressure to do so at home. U.S. President Joe Biden took a similar route to visit Kyiv last month, just before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Due to limitations of Japan's pacifist constitution, his trip was arranged secretly. Kishida is Japan's first postwar leader to enter a war zone. Kishida, invited by Zelenskyy in January to visit Kyiv, was also asked before his trip to India about a rumor of his possible trip at the end of March, denied it and said nothing concrete has been decided.


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