Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Moscow had summoned the Japanese ambassador in protest over an investment made by a Japanese startup in Ukrainian interceptor drone technology.

Russia summons Japan ambassador over Japanese firm's investment in Ukrainian drones

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Moscow had summoned the Japanese ambassador in protest over an investment made by a Japanese startup in Ukrainian interceptor drone technology.

Dmitry Antonov and Lucy Papachristou/Reuters

A photo of a Japanese flag in front of a building. Image courtesy of Unsplash via Wix.

Romeo A./Unsplash via Wix

MOSCOW- Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Moscow had summoned the Japanese ambassador in protest over an investment made by a Japanese startup in Ukrainian interceptor drone technology.

The Japanese company, Terra Drone 278A.T, said in March it had invested an undisclosed sum in Ukrainian interceptor-drone producer Amazing Drones, which produces technology designed for rapid deployment on the battlefield.

The Kremlin has described Russia's relations with Japan as having been "reduced to zero" over what it casts as Tokyo's "unfriendly stance" towards Moscow.

Relations between Moscow and Tokyo, who have not signed a formal World War Two peace treaty, have been strained for decades over an unresolved territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories.

-Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Hugh Lawson/Reuters