Russia Says Missiles Intended to Strengthen National Security

Moscow, Nov. 24 (Jiji Press)--The deployment of Russian missile systems on northwestern Pacific islands is intended to strengthen national security, the country's ITAR-Tass news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman as saying Thursday. The southern Kurils are an integral part of Russian territory, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, referring to the islands at the center of a territorial dispute between Tokyo and Moscow. Zakharova also said Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, will meet in Moscow Dec. 3. The talks are aimed at laying the groundwork for a summit meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for mid-December in Japan. The summit is expected to focus on the territorial dispute over the four islands seized by Soviet troops from Japan in the closing days of World War II. The islands are called the Northern Territories in Japan. END