May 28 (Reuters) – Japan’s U.N. ambassador on Thursday dismissed as “ridiculous” Russia’s criticism of its military buildup at a time when Moscow was continuing its war against Ukraine in violation of the U.N. Charter.
On Tuesday, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the first session of a U.N. Security Council meeting on upholding the U.N. charter and strengthening multilateral cooperation that “remilitarization” in Germany and Japan was a dangerous threat to global security and was undoing the results of World War Two.
Japan’s envoy, Kazuyuki Yamazaki, said Japan had always been faithful to the U.N. Charter and upheld international law, while Russia was “continuing its aggression against Ukraine in violation of the charter.”
“Japan’s efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities are a response to an increasingly severe security environment and are not directed against any specific country. Japan has consistently maintained an exclusively defense-oriented policy under its constitution,” Yamazaki said.
“It is ridiculous to criticize Japan’s defense posture as militaristic. It is even more so (coming from) a state continuing its own military aggression in clear violation of the U.N. Charter.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, Germany’s minister of state for Europe, Gunther Krichbaum, called Nebenzia’s comments “unjustified accusations.”
“We have been and continue to be crystal clear about our aim, which is to live in peace with our neighbors and prevent conflicts in and beyond Europe and around the world,” he said.
Germany has laid out plans for a major expansion of its armed forces following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Japan has taken steps away from pacifist restraints that have shaped its postwar security policy and is undertaking its largest military buildup since World War Two, driven by concerns about China’s growing power.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Don Durfee and Bill Berkrot)
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