日米共同訓練「重大な挑戦」　ロシア外務省が懸念伝達

　【モスクワ時事】ロシア外務省のザハロワ情報局長は２４日の声明で、北海道で今月行われた自衛隊と米軍の共同訓練に関し、政府として日本側に懸念を伝えたと明らかにした。
　声明は、「対ロシア国境付近」という実施場所と訓練規模などから、安全保障上の「重大な挑戦と潜在的脅威」と見なさざるを得ないと主張した。１７日に在ロシア日本大使館幹部を外務省に呼び出し、こうした見解を伝えたという。（2021/12/25-06:05）

The Russian government has conveyed to Tokyo its concern over joint exercises conducted by Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido this month, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said in a statement Friday.
   The statement said that Russia has no choice but to regard the joint exercises as a serious challenge and potential threat to Russia's national security due to the exercise venues' geographical proximity to the Russian border and the scale of the drills.
   The Russian ministry summoned a senior official of the Japanese Embassy in Moscow to convey this view on Dec. 17, according to the statement released by the spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova.
   The statement said that the Russian side has also lodged a strong protest to Japan over an exhibition about four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands at the center of the two countries' long-standing territorial dispute.
   Japan's claim of sovereignty over the islands is illegal, it said, adding that the country took provocative action again despite a similar protest made by the Russian side last year. The exhibition was held in Tokyo early this month.