Japan will probably postpone submitting a resolution to expand the U.N. Security Council in light of an objection aired last week by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Foreign Ministry sources said Tuesday.
In a telephone conversation Friday with Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, Rice urged Tokyo to refrain from submitting the resolution this month, the sources said.
"If the resolution is submitted in haste, we would have to oppose to it," a senior ministry official quoted Rice as telling Machimura. "There would be confusion if it is submitted too early."