Russia slams Japan over US missile deployment

Tokyo has ignored warnings from Moscow and allowed Typhon launchers on Kyushu Island, the Foreign Ministry says Russia has demanded that Japan remove US mid-range Typhon missile systems from its territory, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said, describing the deployment as unacceptable and a threat to national security and regional stability. In a statement published by the Foreign Ministry on Friday, Zakharova said Moscow sent Tokyo a formal protest note on September 3 after the US deployed the launchers to the southwestern island of Kyushu, 1,300 km from the city of Vladivostok. “The Japanese side was told to stop this practice and remove the above-mentioned systems from its territory,” she said, adding that Moscow opposes these deployments regardless of the duration.

Russia conducts missile test near Kuril Islands after Japanese protest The US Army brought Typhon systems to Japan’s Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima Prefecture in June for the Valiant Shield exercise and kept them there for another drill being held this month. The launchers are slated to leave Kanoya in mid-October but are expected to be stored at US military facilities elsewhere in Japan. No live firing is planned during the deployment. The Typhon is capable of launching SM-6 missiles, as well as Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, which have a range of around 1,600 km. The US developed the Typhon after withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which prohibited US and Soviet ground-launched and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 km. Kremlin explains why peace treaty talks with Japan are currently ‘impossible’ Zakharova noted that China recently delivered a similar protest to Japan over its “remilitarization. ” The dispute comes amid another spike in…