The presence of Russian warships to the north of Australia is not unusual and must have been planned some time before his anticipated confrontation with Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says.
The Coral Sea exercises have been interpreted as a show of force by Russia after Mr Abbott confronted the president over the MH17 disaster.
But Mr Abbott says Australia has been monitoring the warships for some time and would continue to do so.
"Plainly it takes weeks, if not months, to deploy warships thousands of miles from your bases," he said.
"So this Russian deployment into Pacific waters is something that has been a long, long time in preparation.
"It's not unusual for Russia to deploy naval elements when there are significant international events taking place.
"Certainly it is unusual for Russian naval elements to be in Australian waters.
"Unusual, not entirely unprecedented, but unusual."
Mr Abbott said the Russian navy also deployed to Singapore when the republic hosted an APEC conference, and in the Pacific when San Francisco when it hosted a major summit.
The prime minister was in Myanmar for the East Asia Summit, where maritime security in the South China Sea was set to dominate discussions.
Australia must also allow freedom of the seas, he said.
"If Australia, the United States and others expect, indeed demand, the right of passage for naval vessels in Asia, obviously we have to accept the right of passage for military or naval vessels in the Pacific," he said.
