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Joint China-Russia military drills in the Sea of Japan a “forced step for the Kremlin," expert says
In August, the Chinese and Russian navies will hold their annual Maritime Interaction 2025 exercises in the Sea of Japan near Vladivostok, as well as a joint maritime patrol in the Pacific Ocean.
"For Russia, such exercises are a forced step, because they understand that China is a natural antagonist of the Russian Federation and will maintain a certain degree of cooperation with Russia only as long as it does not conflict with its own interests," says Valerii Riabyk, a military expert and development director at the information and consulting company Defense Express.
"This is also confirmed by leaked FSB documents, which describe an operation developed at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine aimed at strengthening counterintelligence measures in relations with the PRC," he says.
Riabykh added that recently such exercises have been taking place regularly.
"They plan them, and both sides need this in order to check and compare each other’s military capabilities. Some may see this as preparation for joint operations, but on the other hand, one should not exclude that such joint activities are primarily a way of probing the potential enemy's capabilities. Under the guise of partnership, they are keeping their finger on the pulse to be able to respond in time," the expert concluded.