TOKYO, May 5. /TASS/. Japan will inevitably become one of the first victims of the US geopolitical games in case of a nuclear conflict in the region, Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolay Nozdrev told TASS in an interview.

"We consider dangerous for regional stability the fact that Tokyo is becoming more and more involved in various 'extended deterrence' schemes involving US nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba fully supports its main ally's approaches to strategic security issues, not realizing that if it comes to the implementation of American scenarios of nuclear conflict, Japan will inevitably become one of the first victims of Washington's dangerous geopolitical games," he said, adding that the Russian side is also closely monitoring "information about the allegedly planned American deployment of medium and shorter-range land-based missiles on the territory" of Japan.

The ambassador also said that Russia is paying special attention to the intensification of the Japanese side's military activities near Russia's eastern borders, including in bilateral and multilateral formats with the participation, first of all, of the armed forces of the United States and some other NATO countries, as well as American allies in the Asia-Pacific region. "We regularly warn Tokyo that if such activities continue, we will be forced to take countermeasures to block military threats to Russia," he explained.

Nozdrev pointed out that Japan's "rejection of peaceful development, accelerated militarization, and the Japanese leadership's promotion of the idea of creating military blocs in the Asia-Pacific region only leads to the growth of military and political tensions and fuels the arms race in Northeast Asia." "Our position remains unchanged: peace and stability in the region can be ensured only through the formation of a comprehensive architecture of indivisible security," the Russian diplomat concluded.