Japanese official claimed that the country has began installing its second advanced Patriot missile defense system at an air base near Tokyo. It is a part of a defense shield for the nation's capital.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticized recent U.S. proposals for a missile defense system based in Europe.

Russia will not abandon its plans to suspend implementation of a key European arms treaty even after of U.S. proposals for cooperation on missile defense, a leading Russian lawmaker said Friday according to ITAR-Tass news agency.

Allowing the United States to base part of a missile defense system could damage Poland’s interests, the county’s new defense minister said.

The placement of U.S. missile defenses in Europe will not ease global security concerns but will undermine the global strategic balance, the Chinese foreign minister said Wednesday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he expects Poland's new government to continue to discuss hosting a U.S. missile defense site. U.S. Defense chief is in Prague for talks with Czech leaders on American plans to build part of a missile defense system in the Czech Republic. Czech government has expressed no strong objections to the U.S. plan. But polls show most Czech citizens oppose the missile system.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the United States may be ready to soften its position on plans for a missile defense system in Europe and stressed that talks on the issue should continue.

The U.S. secretary of defense told Russian military cadets Saturday the U.S. is ready to work with Russia on common security threats. In a speech at the Military Academy in Moscow, Secretary Robert Gates spoke about the history of the two countries, and said no nation has suffered more from the wars of the last century than Russia.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the American plan to install parts of a missile defense system in eastern Europe will go ahead, despite strong objections from Russia.

The missile defense elements the U.S. plans to deploy in Poland could be used as shock weapons, and present a real threat to Russia, a Russian military expert said on Thursday.

Russia and the United States have failed to make progress during two rounds of consultations on the deployment of U.S. missile defense elements in Europe, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday.

A Friday poll showed that majority of Poles oppose a U.S. missile defense base. The survey, by the publicly funded CBOS institute in Warsaw, said that 56 percent of those questioned oppose putting the base on Polish territory - a level of resistance that has remained fairly steady over the past months. The poll said that 28 percent favor the plan.