On Wednesday, Russia expressed that the potential deployment of U.S. missiles in Japan would pose a threat to its national security, prompting a possible retaliatory response from Moscow.

According to a report from Japan’s Kyodo news agency on Sunday, Japan and the United States are working on a joint military strategy in response to a potential crisis in Taiwan, which includes the deployment of missiles.

The report, citing unnamed sources from both the U.S. and Japan, indicated that the plan involves positioning U.S. missile units in Japan’s Nansei Islands, specifically in the southwestern Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures, as well as in the Philippines.

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused Japan of heightening tensions surrounding Taiwan to rationalize its growing military collaboration with the United States.

“We have consistently warned Japan that the introduction of American medium-range missiles on its territory, as a result of this cooperation, would constitute a genuine threat to our security, compelling us to take necessary and appropriate measures to bolster our defense capabilities,” she stated.

Zakharova suggested that Japan could gain insight into the nature of these measures by reviewing Russia’s recently updated nuclear doctrine, which was released last week and broadened the scenarios under which Russia might consider the use of nuclear weapons.

On Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov indicated that Russia would contemplate the deployment of short- and intermediate-range missiles in Asia if the U.S. were to place similar missiles on the continent.

When asked about this statement, Zakharova refrained from specifying potential locations for Russian missile deployments but emphasized that a significant portion of Russia’s territory lies in Asia, meaning any missiles positioned east of the Urals would be in that region.

She asserted that Moscow has communicated a clear message to the United States and its allies that it would respond decisively and symmetrically to the deployment of land-based medium and shorter-range missiles globally.

She emphasized that the West should not underestimate Russia’s capabilities following the recent launch of the Oreshnik, a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile, aimed at a target in Ukraine last week.