Japan-U.S. Missile Defense System Should Not Trigger Arms Race, Russian General Says

The United States and Japan should avoid creating an arms race as they develop their joint theater antiballistic missile system, a top Russian military officer said yesterday after meeting with a Japanese defense official in Moscow (see GSN, March 18).

Army Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky said he came “to an understanding” with Hajime Massaki, chairman of Japan’s Joint Staff Council, “that this regional system should not lead to an arms race and the development of new types of weapons.”

“We must ensure that the antimissile system which is being developed does not initiate the development of new, cheaper and more exotic systems of weapons — ones like biological weapons — whose use would have highly negative consequences,” said Baluyevskiy, chief of the Russian armed forces general staff.

“Each country chooses its own ways of ensuring security. Japan and the USA have chosen to develop this system,” he said (Interfax/BBC Monitoring, May 24).

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