(Reuters] – China and Russia conducted a joint air patrol Tuesday above the Sea of Japan. The exercise was carried out over East China Sea and Western Pacific.

On its website, the ministry stated that the patrol was the first after Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.

These patrols were previously conducted by the two countries in 2019 2020, 2021 and in the second half of 2019.

Russia was subject to a torrent of Western sanctions for its February 24th invasion of Ukraine. It calls it a “specially military operation”. Beijing did not condemn Russia’s invasion and has not called it an invasion. However, Beijing is pushing for a negotiated resolution.