Moscow, Dec 18: Russia expressed "regret" today at US President George W. Bush's decision to deploy a limited missile shield by 2004, expressing fears that the move could lead to a new arms race. "Moscow views with regret the renewal of US efforts to create a so-called global missile defense system," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, Moscow's first reaction to Bush's announcement made yesterday.
Russia said the decision threatened to "consign to oblivion the principles of strategic stability and lead to a meaningless global arms race, including the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction."
More spending on missile defense and the threat that other countries would only boost their own missile spending to counter the new US shield threatened to "drain resources from fighting today's real threats -- first of all, international terrorism," the Moscow statement added.
In Tokyo, Japan took a cautious stance to a US missile shield development programme, while saying it would continue studying a separate missile defence system with Washington.
"It is a matter for the US to decide how to act from a security point of view," chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a news conference.
"I have nothing to say at this stage," Fukuda said, adding that Tokyo has not received any official request for participation in the scheme.
But Fukuda said Tokyo and Washington would continue considering a plan to jointly develop and deploy a missile defence system in the future. Bureau Report