By Dylan Malyasov Dec 2, 2021
Russia has deployed its Bastion shore-based anti-ship missile systems to the disputed Kuril Islands chain in the Pacific near Japan, the Zvezda TV channel said on Thursday.
“Russia is free to place on its territory those objects that it considers (necessary), and in those areas of our country in which it considers appropriate. This is our sovereign right, this is the right of any state, it is unlikely that it can be challenged by anyone,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Pskov.
Peskov also added that Russia values relations with Japan, but there is a problem with them. “And we retain the political will to continue a comprehensive dialogue with our Japanese partners in order to find ways to resolve this fundamental problem,” he concluded.
Last month, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi voiced “serious concerns” over a recent increase in military activity by Russia and China near Japan in phone talks Thursday with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, a government source said.
The remarks came after Moscow and Beijing sent a flotilla of naval vessels around Japan and conducted a joint bomber patrol over nearby waters in recent weeks in an apparent show of force against Tokyo.
According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Hayashi and Lavrov agreed to advance peace treaty negotiations that have been stalled over a long-standing territorial row between their countries.
Currently, Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril Islands that Tokyo calls the Northern Territories.
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