Japan and Russia have agreed to step up cooperation between their military forces in their first high level defence talks in years. After extensive negotiations in Tokyo, the two countries agreed to hold joint military exercises and to establish a defence consultation framework. Russia’s Foreign Minister Seergei Lavrov said there is no reason why this should have a negative effect on Japan’s relations with the United States.

Lavrov said that to cope with issues on the Korean Peninsula and territorial dispute between Russia and Japan, the two sides should work together to better serve the two countries’ national interests. Both sides agreed to boost anti-terrorism cooperation and deepen defence exchanges through reciprocal visits of Defense Chiefs and joint counter-terrorism and anti-piracy drills between their maritime forces.

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said Japan hoped to contribute to world peace through defence cooperation with Russia. The two visiting Russian Ministers also held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today.