According to a report by Russian TASS on July 19th, Andrey Rudenko, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, stated in an interview that Japan's cooperation with Ukraine in the use of drones is equivalent to 'helping to kill Russian citizens'.
“We are closely monitoring the development of cooperation between Japanese drone manufacturers and Ukrainian combat drone developers.” Rudoen Ke said directly, “Given Ukraine’s frequent use of drones to carry out terrorist attacks on Russian civilian targets, we view this cooperation with the Kyiv regime as a public act of hostility: Ukrainian drones have killed innocent Russian citizens, while Tokyo is fueling such behavior.”
According to reports, in early July, the Japanese Foreign Minister held talks with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister in Tokyo. Cooperation on drones was listed as a key agenda item. The Japanese side explicitly stated that they would establish production lines on their own territory to mass-produce military attack drones of the Ukrainian model.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russian-Japanese relations have dropped to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War. Ludenko previously stated that due to Tokyo's hostile stance towards Moscow, Russian-Japanese relations continue to deteriorate. He called on Japan to abandon this hostile stance completely if it wishes to restore dialogue, and to demonstrate its sincerity through concrete actions.
On July 1st, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakhariova criticized Japan for deploying American medium-range and short-range missile systems, stating that such actions seriously undermine stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region.
Zakharova stated that Japan's actions pose a direct threat to Russia's Far East border, and Russia has repeatedly warned Japan not to make such destructive decisions. At the same time, Russia will strengthen cooperation with countries in the region to maintain peace in the Asia-Pacific region.
