Russia demands Japan remove US Typhon missile systems

Russia has demanded that Japan remove US Typhon ground-based missile systems deployed on its territory and designed to launch intermediate- and shorter-range missiles, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“On September 3, a protest note was sent to the Japanese side in Moscow and Tokyo over the deployment on the island of Kyushu of US Typhon ground-based systems designed to launch intermediate- and shorter-range missiles,” the diplomat said in a statement. “The document particularly stressed that official Tokyo had once again taken this step despite repeated Russian démarches explaining our concerns over the threats to national security, regional peace and stability arising from the appearance of this type of weaponry on the Japanese archipelago.”

“The inadmissibility of Japan forward-deploying the above-mentioned systems on its territory under any pretext, regardless of the duration or manner of their deployment, was emphasised,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said. “The Japanese side was urged to end such a practice and remove the aforementioned systems from its territory.”

Zakharova added that on September 16, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko called on Japanese Ambassador to Moscow Akira Muto to take the contents of the previously submitted note “with the utmost seriousness” during a meeting in Moscow.

By Tamilla Hasanova