Moscow: Russia has warned of possible countermeasures over Japan’s deployment of US Typhon missile systems, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.
“The Japanese Embassy was clearly informed that the deployment of this type of weaponry on Japanese territory, even under the pretext of military exercises, is absolutely unacceptable, as it poses a threat to Russia’s security,” Zakharova told a briefing on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, adding that Moscow had warned of retaliatory measures to ensure national security.
The Typhon missile system, deployed by the Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima Prefecture for the Valiant-Shield exercises, is capable of carrying Tomahawk missiles with a range of up to 1,600 km, Japanese media reported at the end of June. It is the longest-range ground-based weapons system deployed in Japan, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Calling on Japan to return to its pacifist policy, Zakharova reiterated that Russian sovereignty over the Southern Kuril Islands was beyond question. She said the Russian Foreign Ministry had lodged a diplomatic protest with the Japanese embassy on Monday over the planned military exercises.
In May there were reports regarding US deploying Typhon mid-range missile launcher and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to southwestern Japan, after the previous deployment drew strong local opposition.
The systems will be deployed to the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima Prefecture during the Valiant Shield and Orient Shield joint exercises between June and September, Kyodo News reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
After the drills conclude, the Typhon and HIMARS systems will move to a US military base in Japan for storage, the report said.
The Typhon system was deployed in Japan for the first time last September during large-scale joint exercises in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, which sparked residents’ criticism after the system remained there far longer than initially explained.
(IANS)
