MOSCOW. Sept 22 (Interfax) - The Japanese Foreign Ministry has abstained from commenting on the statement about a nuclear component in Japanese-U.S. defense cooperation, but said the Japanese missile defense system created with the support of the United States is not targeted against Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow "had been observing an update of the guiding principles of Japan-U.S. defense cooperation and the appearance of what I would call a nuclear aspect."

"This is a statement made by Mr. Lavrov, so I would like to abstain from commenting," Japanese Foreign Ministry representative Yasuhisa Kawamura told Interfax in an interview.

"Japan is closely cooperating with the United States which is an ally of Japan, for instance, in the area of missile defense