Russia`s foreign minister was in Japan Tuesday to voice concern about a missile shield Tokyo is building with Washington, which Moscow views as another US-led affront.

Japan, a close US ally, has never signed a peace treaty with Russia to formally end World War II due to a dispute over four islands off Japan`s northern coast which Soviet troops seized in 1945.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Tokyo for a day of talks with his Japanese counterpart Masahiko Komura and the government`s number two Nobutaka Machimura, a foreign ministry official said.

While the two nations are also expected to discuss the island dispute, Lavrov said he would press Tokyo on its missile system.

In an interview with Japan`s Kyodo News earlier this month, Lavrov said Russia is "opposed to the construction of a missile defence system aimed at securing military superiority."

The United States and Japan began working on the missile shield project in 1998 after North Korea shot a ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean.

"A closed format for military and political alliances... will not be able to increase mutual trust in the region," Lavrov told Kyodo News.

"It will bring about results that are opposite to the expectations" of the United States, Japan, and Russia, he added.

Relations have turned increasingly acrimonious between a newly assertive Kremlin and a conservative-led White House.

Russia is also firmly opposed to US plans to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic to guard against possible missile attacks from "rogue" countries such as Iran and North Korea.

Moscow contends that the system in Eastern Europe is also aimed against Russia.
sections: Politics, World News