SEOUL/TOKYO — Russia’s military chief warned on Monday that military exercises by Japan, the United States and South Korea aimed at countering North Korea only raise hysteria and create more instability in the region.

Russian Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces General Valery Gerasimov, issued his warning in Tokyo as the United States, Japan and South Korea began a two-day exercise to practice tracking missiles amid rising tension over North Korea’s weapons programs.

“Carrying out military training in regions surrounding North Korea will only heighten hysteria and make the situation unstable,” Gerasimov said at the beginning of a meeting with Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera.

The trilateral drill comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and declared it had achieved nuclear statehood, escalating global alarm over its weapons push.

The exercise — the sixth since June last year — kicked off in waters near the Korean peninsula and Japan, Seoul’s defense ministry said.

“During the drill, Aegis warships from each country will simulate detecting and tracking down potential ballistic missiles from the North and sharing information,” it said in a statement.

Two US ships are taking part, with one each from the two Asian countries.

Both South Korea and Japan have security alliances with the US, although their own relationship is marred by disputes over history and territory.

Washington and Seoul staged their biggest-ever joint air drill last week in a show of force against the North, which is subject to multiple sets of UN sanctions over its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

The coalition has urged others to take a tougher stance against Pyongyang but has so far found lukewarm reactions from the North’s main backers Beijing and Moscow.

China criticized the latest drills, which come as President Xi Jinping prepares to host South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-In this week for a summit aimed at soothing ties strained by the US deployment of an anti-missile system in the South.

“The situation is in a vicious cycle of provocation and confrontation. This is not conducive to regional peace and stability,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular news briefing.

“If such a vicious cycle continues and leads to a very bad result, it serves no party’s interest,” Lu said, echoing recent remarks by Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

China and Russia have called for a halt to such US-led drills in return for North Korean suspending its nuclear program.

Tension flared anew in the flashpoint peninsula after the November 29 launch of the Hwasong-15 ICBM, which the North claimed could deliver a “super-large heavy warhead” anywhere on the US mainland.

Many analysts suggest that the rocket is capable of reaching the US mainland but voiced skepticism that Pyongyang has mastered the advanced technology needed to allow the rocket to survive re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere.

Last month’s launch was the first test of any kind since September 15, and quashed hopes that the North may have held back in order to open the door to a negotiated solution to the nuclear standoff. — Agencies