Report: Missile Defense Concerns Russia

Russia is concerned that a joint U.S.-Japanese missile defense effort could be an effort to preserve military superiority, the country`s foreign minister said in a news interview published Saturday.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow regarded the joint missile defense efffort as an "object of concern," expressing wariness over what he called the possibility that the system could be directed against Russia and China.

"We oppose the construction of missile defense systems whose purpose is to ensure military superiority," Lavrov wrote in response to questions from Kyodo News agency ahead of a visit to Japan later this month.

Tokyo and Washington have been jointly developing the advanced missile defense system since North Korea`s conducted a series of missile launches and a nuclear test last year.

The U.S. and Japan held a regional ballistic missile defense drill in July, with another round of exercises scheduled for November.

The U.S. keeps about 50,000 troops across Japan under the bilateral security pact.

U.S. and Russian negotiators ended high-level talks in Moscow Friday at an impasse over a range of issues that have chilled bilateral relations, including a missile defense system the U.S. wants to build in Eastern Europe. Washington says the system is aimed at stopping possible missile launches from Iran and North Korea. Russia says the system is a strategic threat to its missile capabilities.
sections: Politics, World News