MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. The Japanese authorities are discussing the possibility of joint nuclear missions with the West, which may create a threat to security in Northeast Asia, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Third Asian Department Nikolay Nozdrev said on Friday.
"We need to pay special attention to these discussions among the Japanese authorities as they don’t just involve politicians but the senior members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and relate to the need to consider the possibility of joint nuclear missions. It’s not just talk, it is a specific idea that carries a real threat to the national security of many countries in Northeast Asia," he pointed out at a roundtable dubbed "The Echo of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Tragedy: The Truth and Lies Around The Anniversary of the US Atomic Bombings," hosted by the Federation Council (the upper house of parliament).
Nozdrev also highlighted dangerous trends "in the most rapidly developing Asia Pacific region, which can undermine regional stability for the foreseeable future." "It is primarily about plans by a US-led group of countries to draw new dividing lines in the region and create new blocs, whose aggressive nature is carefully disguised but becomes increasingly clear as they develop," he explained. The senior diplomat stressed that Japan was actively involved in those processes.