Aegis Ashore deployment in Japan will affect ties of Moscow and Tokyo

The deployment of U.S.-made Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense systems in Japan will affect ties of Moscow and Tokyo, including the dialogue on a peace treaty, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday 28.

She mentioned that the systems are equipped with universal launchers that are also capable of using attack weapons. "In practice, this will mean a new violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by the U.S. with practical assistance from Japan," Zakharova stressed.

On December 19, the Japanese government made the decision to deploy two Aegis Ashore missile defense systems in the north and southwest of the country’s main island of Honshu, tentatively in 2023. Japan maintains that they are aimed at securing the country against ballistic and maybe cruise missiles. These systems will be bought from the U.S. and will cost Japan an equivalent of about $889 million each.

"Once again we are calling on the Japanese counterparts to consider whether it is in their interests to become involved in violating the INF Treaty. The U.S. has been deploying them at the military bases in Romania and Poland, which is next to our western border, thus violating the INF Treaty of 1987, which outlaws use of such systems ashore." Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also stressed.