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Putin Holds Military Exercises on Islands Claimed by Japan

  • Japanese PM to meet Putin in May amid strains over territories
  • Abe seek breakthrough with Russia as counterweight to China
 Russia's President Vladimir Putin, right, and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe  are seen ahead of a news conference in Moscow on April 27, 2017. 

 Russia's President Vladimir Putin, right, and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe  are seen ahead of a news conference in Moscow on April 27, 2017. 

Photographer: Mikhail Metzel\TASS via Getty Images

Russia is accelerating a military buildup on islands claimed by Japan, threatening to blow a hole in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to lure President Vladimir Putin into settling the dispute.

The government in Tokyo lodged a formal protest after 2,000 Russian troops held military exercises last week on the four islands, called the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan. A few days before, Russia paved the way for its first military airbase in the area.