Russia on Tuesday criticized upcoming joint military exercises between Japan, Australia and the United States and said it had formally protested to Tokyo over the planned deployment of U.S. Typhon missile launchers, which Moscow said threatened its national security.
The “Orient Shield” drills are scheduled to run from September 8–24 in Japan and will involve about 3,700 personnel from the three countries, Kyodo News reported. For the first time the exercises will include U.S. Typhon mid-range missile systems, capable of launching SM-6 and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Vladivostok that Moscow had asked Japan to return to a policy of pacifism and expressed concern that the exercises would take place in regions of Japan close to Russia’s far eastern borders. She said Russia lodged a formal complaint with the Japanese embassy in Moscow on Monday.
“The Japanese side was firmly informed that provocative military activity near our country’s far eastern borders is categorically unacceptable,” Zakharova said. She added that Russia had drawn attention to reports the U.S. Typhon systems would be deployed as part of the drills and warned that their placement on Japanese territory, even for exercises, posed a threat to Russia’s security. Zakharova said Moscow had issued a warning about possible compensatory countermeasures to ensure its national security.
The Japan Times reported that U.S. Typhon systems were sent to Kagoshima Prefecture for joint training with Japan’s Self-Defense Forces in June and were expected to take part in this month’s drills before being moved to a U.S. base in Japan around mid-October.
Tensions between Moscow and Tokyo have risen in recent weeks following President Vladimir Putin’s visit to a disputed, Russian-controlled island off northeast Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the visit “absolutely unacceptable,” and Moscow later summoned the Japanese ambassador to protest comments by Takaichi and Japan’s foreign minister.