Russia Warns Japan of Consequences if Patriot Missiles Sent to Ukraine

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has warned Japan via diplomatic channels of consequences in the event of transferring missiles for the Patriot missile defense systems to the United States, which could end up in Ukraine, the acting director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Third Asia Department, Sergey Zhestkii, has told Sputnik.

In late December 2023, the White House confirmed the Japanese authorities' decision to transfer Patriot missiles to the US, saying it would contribute to enhancing Japan's security and peace in the Indo-Pacific region. The Japanese Embassy in Moscow, following a meeting between Japanese Ambassador to Russia Akira Muto and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, then said that the Patriot missiles transferred from Japan to the US will not be used in Ukraine.

"When in December 2023 the administration of [Japanese Prime Minister] Fumio Kishida achieved a legislative relaxation of national rules for the export of military products - for the sake of supplying Patriot missiles assembled in the country under license to Washington - we directly warned the Japanese side through Ambassador to Moscow Muto that we have no doubt about the ultimate beneficiary of such a decision - the Kiev regime," Zhestkii said.

He added that "such an assistance in further pumping up the Ukrainian armed forces with weapons will be unequivocally regarded as Tokyo's complicity in Kiev's criminal actions, which only lead to an increase in the number of victims."

Moreover, the Russian Foreign Ministry had intentionally invited to the ministry "the head of the Russian branch of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, who was in Moscow for consultations with his embassy, for a detailed briefing on the situation around Ukraine," the Russian official said.