SEOUL: South Korea and Japan reacted furiously on Wednesday after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols around the two countries, with both Seoul and Tokyo scrambling jets.&nbsp;South Korea said it had lodged a protest with representatives of China and Russia, while Japan said it had conveyed its &quot;serious concerns&quot; over national security.&nbsp;According to Tokyo, two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers on Tuesday flew from the Sea of Japan to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers in the East China Sea, then conducted a joint flight around the country.&nbsp;The incident comes as Japan is locked in a dispute with China over comments Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made about Taiwan.&nbsp;The bombers&#39; joint flights were &quot;clearly intended as a show of force against our nation&quot;, defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi wrote on X Wednesday.&nbsp;Top government spokesman Minoru Kihara said that Tokyo had &quot;conveyed to both China and Russia our serious concerns over our national security through diplomatic channels&quot;.&nbsp;Seoul said Tuesday the Russian and Chinese warplanes entered its air defence zone and that a complaint had been lodged with the defence attaches of both countries in the South Korean capital.&nbsp;&quot;Our military will continue to respond actively to the activities of neighbouring countries&#39; aircraft within the KADIZ in compliance with international law,&quot; said Lee Kwang-suk, director general of the International Policy Bureau at Seoul&#39;s defence ministry, referring to the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone.&nbsp;South Korea also said it deployed &quot;fighter jets to take tactical measures in preparation for any contingencies&quot; in response to the Chinese and Russian incursion into the KADIZ.&nbsp;The planes were spotted before they entered the air defense identification zone, defined as a broader area in which countries police aircraft for security reasons but which does not constitute their airspace.&nbsp;Japan&#39;s defense ministry also scrambled fighter jets to intercept the warplanes.&nbsp;&nbsp;Routine exerciseBeijing later Tuesday confirmed it had organized drills with Russia&#39;s military according to &quot;annual cooperation plans&quot;.&nbsp;Moscow also described it as a routine exercise, saying it lasted eight hours and that some foreign fighter jets followed the Russian and Chinese aircraft.&nbsp;Since 2019 China and Russia have regularly flown military aircraft into South Korea&#39;s air defence zone without prior notice, citing joint exercises.&nbsp;In November last year Seoul scrambled jets as five Chinese and six Russian military planes flew through its air defence zone.&nbsp;Similar incidents occurred in June and December 2023, and in May and November 2022.&nbsp;Meanwhile Tokyo said Monday it had scrambled jets in response to repeated takeoff and landing exercises involving fighter jets and military helicopters from China&#39;s Liaoning aircraft carrier as it cruised in international waters near Japan.&nbsp;It also summoned Beijing&#39;s ambassador after military aircraft from the Liaoning locked radar onto Japanese jets, the latest incident in the row ignited by Takaichi&#39;s comments backing Taiwan.&nbsp;Takaichi suggested last month that Japan would intervene militarily in any Chinese attack on the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own and has not ruled out seizing by force.

Asia

China

South Korea and Japan condemned joint Russian and Chinese military aircraft patrols near their borders, with both countries scrambling jets. The incident, amid rising tensions over Taiwan, sparked diplomatic protests over national security concerns.

South Korea, Japan accuse China, Russia over aircraft incursions

LONDON: Britain said Friday it was &quot;disappointing&quot; talks with Brussels to access a 150-billion-euro ($174 billion) EU scheme to bolster Europe&#39;s defenses had failed amid disagreement over the entry fee.&nbsp;European nations have scrambled to bolster their militaries since Russia&#39;s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Brussels launching its loan initiative earlier this year.&nbsp;The SAFE (Security Action for Europe) scheme will provide EU countries with 150 billion euros of loans at lower rates to help them rearm.&nbsp;London and Brussels had been wrangling over the level of contribution the UK would make to join the scheme, which would have allowed Britain to secure more lucrative access for its arms manufacturers.&nbsp;EU relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said in a statement it was &quot;disappointing that we have not been able to conclude discussions on UK participation in the first round of SAFE&quot;.&nbsp;But he noted the UK defense industry &quot;will still be able to participate in projects through SAFE on third-country terms&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;Our position was always clear: we will only sign agreements that are in the national interest and provide value for money,&quot; Thomas-Symonds added.&nbsp;EU countries are obliged to spend the loaned money on weapons that are at least 65 percent produced in the bloc.&nbsp;If Britain had joined, that figure would have been reduced for London meaning British firms could try to cash in more.&nbsp;Both sides said the negotiations had been conducted in &quot;good faith&quot;, with the European Commission also stressing that Britain can still participate in up to 35 percent of SAFE procurements.&nbsp;It added that talks with Canada about its participation continue &quot;and we hope to find an agreement before Sunday&quot;.&nbsp;EU officials previously said the bloc had asked London to contribute up to 6.5 billion euros to join the SAFE scheme.&nbsp;But Britain which left the EU in 2020 following its Brexit split baulked at that price tag and had pushed for a better deal, according to diplomatic sources.&nbsp;Poland, Romania, France and Hungary were among the biggest claimants for money under SAFE, when Brussels unveiled its funding allocations in September.&nbsp;Poland snapped up loan&rsquo;s worth almost 44 billion euros, followed by Romania on 16.7 billion, and France and Hungary on 16.2 billion each, according to preliminary figures.

United Kingdom

Britain and the EU failed to agree on UK access to the €150-billion SAFE defense loan scheme due to disputes over the entry fee. The UK called talks “disappointing” but can still join projects on third-country terms.

UK fails to reach deal to access EU defense scheme

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Sunday a successful final test of a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, praising the &ldquo;unique&rdquo; nuclear-capable weapon with a range of up to 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles). &ldquo;The decisive tests are now complete,&rdquo; Putin, who is waging an offensive in neighboring Ukraine, said in a video released by the Kremlin during a meeting with military officials. He ordered the preparation of &ldquo;infrastructure to put this weapon into service in the Russian armed forces.&rdquo; Putin called the missile a &ldquo;unique creation that no one else in the world possesses,&rdquo; adding that the Burevestnik has &ldquo;unlimited range.&rdquo; During the last test on Oct. 21, the missile spent &ldquo;about 15 hours&rdquo; flying 14,000 km, said Russia&rsquo;s military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov, adding that this was not the upper limit for the weapon. &ldquo;The technical characteristics of the Burevestnik allow it to be used with guaranteed precision against highly protected sites located at any distance,&rdquo; he said.Putin announced the Russian military&rsquo;s development of the missile in 2018.

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin gives a speech at a meeting of the Russian Geographical Society in Moscow on October 23, 2025. (Photo by Kristina Kormilitsyna / POOL / AFP)

Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Sunday a successful final test of a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, praising the “unique” nuclear-capable weapon with a range of up to 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles).

Articles tagged with "russia"

South Korea, Japan accuse China, Russia over aircraft incursions

UK fails to reach deal to access EU defense scheme

Putin says Russia successfully tested new nuclear-capable cruise missile