Lavrov sees Japan-US defense cooperation as obstacle to Tokyo-Moscow ties

March 17, 2018

Moscow- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concerns on Thursday that missile defense cooperation between Japan and the United States is serving as an obstacle to relations between Japan and Russia, including efforts to resolve a territorial dispute.

Japan-US defense cooperation is directly affecting Russia's national security, Lavrov said, apparently referring to Japan's plan to introduce the US-developed Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system.

Lavrov made the comments in an interview held in Moscow with Jiji Press and other media organizations ahead of a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, set for Wednesday in Tokyo.

The comments came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly expressed resolve to settle the territorial dispute with Russia and conclude a peace treaty aimed at formally ending their wartime hostilities.

Lavrov said Russia is convinced that the United States is building its missile defense networks to contain Russia, not to deal with threats from Iran and North Korea.

Russia has conveyed its concerns over the U.S. missile defense networks honestly to its Japanese friends, Lavrov said, referring to the Abe administration.

Based on an agreement between Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tokyo and Moscow need to remove all obstacles to ties and address these problems in order to strengthen cooperation, he said.

Security issues in the Asia-Pacific region can be resolved through a comprehensive concept rather than military alliances, including those between Japan and the United States and the United States and South Korea, Lavrov said.

Russia has been seeking to realize multilateral security cooperation in East Asia, while calling for dissolving the bilateral alliances.

On the territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over four northwestern Pacific islands, Lavrov said the focus should be on proposed joint economic activities on the islands instead of legal aspects.

Japan has asked Russia to establish a special framework that will not undermine the two countries' respective legal positions for the islands in order to promote joint economic activities.

On Japan's position, Lavrov said it was premature to talk about this, while reiterating Russia's call for the two sides to agree on details at an early date.

The two countries are working to set up joint projects in five fields, including tourism and aquaculture.

The five fields are interesting but they are not large in scale, Lavrov said, suggesting that Russia is looking for big projects. Jiji Press