TOKYO, August 6. /TASS/. Japan is working on the possibility of joining the US nuclear missions or allowing the deployment of American intermediate-range ballistic missiles on its territory, which may trigger another arms race in the region, Russian Ambassador to Tokyo Nikolay Nozdrev told TASS.

"We have repeatedly warned that Tokyo's move along the nuclear path, whether it is joining the so-called Washington nuclear missions or deploying American intermediate-range missiles, will create a security threat in Northeast Asia and provoke another arms race in the region," he emphasized. The diplomat recalled that the Russian side "constantly reminds official Tokyo that such irresponsible policies will be duly considered" in Russia's defense construction.

As a result of the meeting of top US and Japanese diplomats and defense officials held in Tokyo in late July, the sides adopted a joint statement that for the first time enshrined the US intention to protect Japan from a potential external aggressor using methods including nuclear weapons.

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were carried out by the US in August 1945 at the end of World War II with the officially declared objective of hastening Japan’s surrender. The bombings of the two Japanese cities are the only examples in human history of the wartime use of nuclear weapons. As a result of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, according to various estimates, between 70,000 and 100,000 people died in a single day. By the end of 1945, the number of victims had increased to 140,000, due to those who subsequently died in the hospital from injuries and radiation. The total number of victims exceeds 350,000 to this day.