MOSCOW REGRETS ITS ONLY PARTIAL PARTICIPATION IN TOKYO MEETING ON MISSILE NON-PROLIFERATION








MOSCOW, March 12 /from RIA Novosti's Yelena Glushakova/ - According to information provided on Monday to RIA Novosti by the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow regrets its participation only as an observer in a recent informal meeting in Tokyo of experts on missile non-proliferation.


	Gathered in the Japanese capital were experts on missile non-proliferation from the People's Republic of China, ASEAN countries, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and a number of countries outside the region.


	The ministry indicated that "the objective of this multilateral event was to search for political and diplomatic, rather than military, answers to the problem of proliferation".


	The Russian side is sorry it was invited to Tokyo only as an observer, although "it was Russia that had initiated such forums".


	The ministry recalled that this past February saw the second international meeting of experts to create a global system of control over non-proliferation of missiles and missile technologies, with the venue in Moscow. And in April, Moscow will host an international conference on the prevention of outer space militarization.


	Russian Foreign Ministry officials emphasized that "Russia's participation in the Tokyo meeting as a full-fledged delegate would have facilitated the promotion of international efforts" aimed at preventing missile proliferation.