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Was Russian jet fly-past a bid to intimidate Japan into cooling ties with US?
Sanae Takaichi is unlikely to push to improve ties with Moscow, virtually frozen under previous prime ministers, experts say
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A near-incursion by Russian fighter jets into Japanese airspace last week was a bid by Moscow to intimidate Tokyo amid its strengthening ties with Washington, observers warned.
And without a breakthrough in US-Russia relations, few expect Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to make much headway at easing the tension.
Tokyo said it scrambled fighter jets last Friday to monitor Russian warplanes, including nuclear-capable strategic bombers, which had flown close to Japanese airspace along its northern coast.
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Russia’s Defence Ministry, in a statement reported by the state-owned RIA news agency, confirmed that its Tu-95 bombers had been escorted by jets from another country during what it described as a routine patrol flight over neutral waters.
The incident reportedly occurred just hours before Takaichi pledged to fast track Japan’s defence build-up. In her first address to parliament since taking office, she warned that military activities by Russia, alongside those of China and North Korea, represented a “serious concern”.
Japan’s Ministry of Defence released a map showing the flight path of the Russian planes off Japan’s west coast over the Sea of Japan. It said the bombers were accompanied by two Su-35 fighters and had initially flown towards Japan’s Sado Island before turning northwards.
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