U.S. bases could be deployed in South Kuril Islands in case of their transfer to Japan - Putin
ST. PETERSBURG. June 1 (Interfax) - There is a probability of U.S. troop deployment in the South Kuril Islands in the event of their transfer to Japan, which is unacceptable for Russia, President Vladimir Putin said.
"We can see what is going on in the United States: the anti-Russian campaign, Russophobia has been ongoing. We do not know how this situation may develop. This does not depend on us, as we have not initiated that process," Putin said at the meeting with the heads of leading foreign news agencies on Thursday.
"Given those circumstances, it would be absolutely unacceptable for us to presume, even theoretically, that everything is all right there [in the South Kuril Islands] today, and some sort of bases or missile defense systems may be deployed there tomorrow," Putin said.
There is a theoretical possibility of U.S. troops' deployment in the South Kuril Islands if those islands are passed in Japan's jurisdiction, he said.
'This derives from the [U.S.-Japanese] treaty and the protocols they have signed. They have not shown us those [documents] but we are generally aware of their content. I will not go into details now, although I know those details. There is a possibility of U.S. troops' deployment on those territories," Putin said.
One may wonder "whether this is frightening Russia and whether Russia is going to worsen its relations with the United States," Putin said. "No. We are not going to worsen [those relations] and nothing is frightening us," he said.
