19 December 2003 14:50
Russia says Japan`s missile defence shield may cause concern
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Losyukov believes that Tokyo's decision announced on Friday to introduce a missile defence shield is unlikely "to have an immediate impact" on the prospects of the second round of talks on the North Korean nuclear programme, in which representatives of the two Koreas, China, Russia, the USA and Japan take part. Speaking to ITAR-TASS correspondent in Tokyo, he said that the current step of the Japanese government "may cause certain concern on the part of the participants. At the same time, the decision reflects certain concern, existing in Japan itself".
Losyukov believes that Tokyo's intention to introduce its own missile shield is "an undesirable effect of the sad situation on the Korean peninsula". Russia believes that the "creation of closed regional anti-missile systems does not contribute to the strengthening of trust and may cause concern on the part of some countries". However, Losyukov said that the deployment of the anti-missile defence system is "Japan's sovereign decision".
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