TOKYO, November 25. /TASS/. Japan has lodged a protest against Russia’s deployment of anti-ship missiles in the southern Kurils, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said in response to a question from a legislator on Friday.

"I hope, you understand, we have lodged protest," Kyodo quoted the foreign minister.

Japan’s Prime Minister Sindzo Abe on Friday expressed regret about the deployment of the Russian anti-ship missiles.

"We have used diplomatic channels to say this does not go in line with this country’s position and causes regret," he told a plenary meeting of the parliament’s upper house in a comment on reports Russia had deployed in Iturup and Kunashir Islands of the Kuril Ridge the Bastion and Bal missile complexes.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said that the placement of missile systems in the Kurils was a well-founded move and should not affect negotiations with Tokyo, including those on a future peace treaty.

"At the same time, in our view this should by no means influence the fast trends that have developed in our bilateral relations with Tokyo in terms of thorough preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forthcoming visit to Japan (on December 15-16) and the continuing contacts for the development of bilateral relations, in particular, in the economic sphere and from the standpoint of talks on problems related with the peace treaty issue," Peskov said.