Russia lodges protest with Japan over US Typhoon missile deployment

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it has made a formal protest to Japan over its decision to host U.S.-made medium-range missile systems that Moscow sees as a threat.

The Foreign Ministry said its note of protest, which was issued earlier this month, warned Tokyo that the deployment of the U.S. Typhon missile systems on the island of Kyushu threatens Russia’s security, regional peace, and stability and urged their removal.

Earlier this week, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko met with Akira Muto, the Japanese ambassador to Moscow, and urged Tokyo to “treat the contents of the previously sent note with the utmost seriousness,” the ministry said.

The strain follows President Vladimir Putin’s trip last month to the Kuril Islands, the Moscow-controlled Pacific archipelago that is claimed by both countries.

The Soviet Union took the islands from Japan in the final days of World War II and the ongoing dispute has prevented the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities. Moscow has rejected Tokyo’s complaints, reaffirming that Russia’s “sovereignty and jurisdiction over the southern Kuril Islands are absolutely unshakable.”