Japan "understands" the use of force NATO undertook against Yugoslavia to prevent a further humanitarian catastrophe, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Thursday.

"Japan is currently following how the situation develops with great concern," Obuchi told reporters after NATO launched airstrikes on Yugoslavia.

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura also reiterated Obuchi's remarks and urged the Yugoslav government to accept the proposed peace agreement.

"It is essential to have a peace agreement between the two parties -- the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Albanians -- to ultimately resolve this issue," Komura said. "Japan strongly urges the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to immediately accept the peace agreement proposed by the Contact Group."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka expressed hope that a peace agreement that can gain the "understanding" of the member nations of the U.N. Security Council be established as early as possible.

"We understand the development of a series of efforts made by NATO, but still, China and Russia, which are members of the U.N. Security Council, have not fully expressed their understanding over the situation," he said.

"We hope that a peace agreement that can be agreed upon within the U.N. Security Council will be reached as early as possible," he said.

Nonaka also said the Japanese Embassy in Belgrade provided buses for Japanese people there as part of evacuation efforts, but 61 Japanese still remain in the country.