Russian ex-President Medvedev says Japanese PM should disembowel himself - Reuters

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida connected Saturday of shameful subservience to the United States and suggested helium should ritually disembowel himself.

It was the latest successful a agelong enactment of shocking and provocative statements from Medvedev, who was erstwhile seen arsenic a Western-leaning reformer but has reinvented himself arsenic an arch-hawk since Russia invaded Ukraine past year.

Speaking astatine a news league successful Washington connected Saturday, a time aft a acme with U.S. President Joe Biden connected Friday, Kishida made nary notation of Medvedev's remark and was not asked astir it.

Japanese officials travelling with Kishida did not instantly respond to requests for remark and successful Japan, nary 1 was instantly disposable for remark connected the remarks astatine either the premier minister’s authoritative residence oregon the overseas ministry extracurricular mean moving hours.

Medvedev is simply a salient state of President Vladimir Putin who serves arsenic lawman president of Russia's Security Council and of a assemblage overseeing the defence industry.

He was responding to a meeting connected Friday betwixt Kishida and Biden, aft which the 2 leaders issued a associated connection saying: "We authorities unequivocally that immoderate usage of a atomic limb by Russia successful Ukraine would beryllium an enactment of hostility against humanity and unjustifiable successful immoderate way."

On Saturday, Kishida said the G7 acme of large industrialized nations successful Hiroshima successful May should show a beardown volition to uphold planetary order and regularisation of instrumentality aft Russia's penetration of Ukraine.

Medvedev said the atomic connection showed "paranoia" towards Russia and "betrayed the representation of hundreds of thousands of Japanese who were burned successful the atomic occurrence of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" - a notation to the atomic bombs that the United States dropped connected Japan to unit its surrender astatine the extremity of World War Two.

Rather than demanding U.S. repentance for this, Kishida had shown helium was "just a work attendant for the Americans".

He said specified shame could lone beryllium washed distant by committing seppuku - a signifier of termination by disembowelment, besides known arsenic hara-kiri - astatine a gathering of the Japanese furniture aft Kishida's return.

Since Russia's penetration of Ukraine, Medvedev has warned repeatedly that Western meddling successful the situation could pb to atomic war, and has referred to Ukrainians arsenic "cockroaches" successful connection Kyiv says is openly genocidal.

Putin has said that the hazard of a atomic warfare is rising but insisted Russia has not "gone mad" and that it sees its ain atomic arsenal arsenic a purely antiaircraft deterrent.

Reporting by Reuters Editing by Frances Kerry and Diane Craft

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