TOKYO – Japan’s planned deployment of the American Aegis Ashore anti-missile system is an obstacle to Moscow improving ties with Tokyo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday (March 21)..
TOKYO – Japan’s planned deployment of the American Aegis Ashore anti-missile system is an obstacle to Moscow improving ties with Tokyo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday (March 21).
The rollout, which is slated for 2023, will inevitably affect Russia’s national security directly, Mr Lavrov told a news conference in Tokyo after more than 2½ hours of talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono.
Mr Kono, in turn, stressed to reporters that the land-based missile interceptor system will „purely be defensive and managed independently by our country“ with the aim of improving Japan’s capability against the North Korea threat.
„It will not pose any threat to neighbouring countries, including Russia,“ he said.
Moscow is claiming American overreach in the deployment that, it suspects, is part of a broader United States missile defence network being developed worldwide. It has been cynical of Tokyo’s reassurances and believes that when push comes to shove, Japan will yield control of the system to its major ally, the US.
In February, two months after Japan formalised its decision on the Aegis system, Moscow signed a decree to allow its military to use a civilian airport on a disputed island that is controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan – in what is seen as a diplomatic tit-for-tat.
This law could pave the way for a Russian air force unit to be deployed on the Iturup/Etofuru island, which is the largest of four islands at the centre of a longstanding bilateral row.
