Russia said one of its military vessels chased away a US naval destroyer that attempted to violate Russian territorial waters during Russian-Chinese naval drills in the Sea of Japan on Friday, the Interfax news agency reported.

There was no immediate comment from the US side.

The Russian defence ministry, quoted by Interfax, said the crew of a Russian ship, the Admiral Tributs, had radioed a warning to the USS Chafee that it was “in an area closed to navigation due to exercises with artillery fire”.

Earlier, the ministry said Russia and China had held joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan.