Russia has urged Japan to remove US-made Typhon ground-based missile systems from its territory, saying the systems pose security concerns in the region.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had formally protested the deployment of the systems on Japan’s Kyushu island.

Zakharova said that Russia sent a diplomatic note to Japan on September 3 in both Moscow and Tokyo over the deployment of the US Typhon systems, which are designed to launch intermediate- and shorter-range missiles.

Moscow said Tokyo had proceeded with the deployment despite repeated Russian warnings about what it described as potential threats to national security, regional peace and stability.

“The inadmissibility of Japan deploying the above-mentioned systems on its territory under any pretext, regardless of the duration or method of their deployment, was emphasized,” Zakharova said.

“Japan was urged to stop this practice and remove the aforementioned systems from its territory,” she added.

Zakharova also said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko raised the issue with Japanese Ambassador to Moscow Akira Muto on September 16.

Rudenko called on Tokyo to take the contents of Russia’s earlier diplomatic note “with the utmost seriousness”.

The Japanese government has been strengthening its long-range strike and stand-off defense capabilities in recent years. Japan’s Defense Ministry has separately documented ongoing deployments and upgrades of its own stand-off missile systems in the country’s southwestern regions.