MOSCOW/TOKYO - Russia has expressed opposition to discussions in Japan about the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said Saturday.

Rudenko told the TASS news agency that Moscow is aware of ongoing discussions in Japan concerning potential changes to constitutional provisions related to its non-nuclear principles.

"Our position is unequivocally negative," Rudenko said. "We believe that the militarization of Japan will only worsen the situation in Northeast Asia."

He added that such moves would provoke corresponding countermeasures from countries that feel threatened.

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Earlier this week, an official within Japan's prime minister's office said Japan should possess nuclear weapons, a controversial stance in opposition to the country's constitutional non-nuclear principles.

Meanwhile, former Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Saturday that possessing nuclear weapons would "never be beneficial for Japan," in response to a senior Japanese official's controversial remarks that Japan should possess nuclear weapons.

"If Japan possesses nuclear weapons, we will have to withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the International Atomic Energy Agency," Ishiba said on a live TV program, noting that "Japan's nuclear policy, which supports its energy needs, will become unviable."

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"It will never be beneficial for Japan," Ishiba said.

Kyodo News reported on Thursday that a senior official, who is involved in devising security policy under the government led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, told media that Japan should possess nuclear weapons, which has immediately drawn strong criticism at home.