Russia vetoed a draft resolution by the United States and Japan to ban the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space, presented at the UN Security Council. 13 out of 15 Security Council countries voted for the document. China abstained.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the draft resolution was blocked because amendments proposed by Moscow and Beijing were not made to it. They talked about a ban on the deployment of any weapons in space, not just mass destruction, guarantees of the non-use of force against space objects and the need to develop an international legal instrument obliging compliance with these agreements.
“We also opposed the project in connection with the United States’ attempt to create, through the use of the UN Security Council, new international legal obligations in the field of space security that go beyond the framework of existing treaties and agreements (primarily the 1967 Outer Space Treaty),” Zakharova added.
According to her, if not for Russia’s veto, The United States would have “complete “free hands” to legitimize any understandings on issues of international security and strategic stability that meet American interests.”
Zakharova also said that in the near future Russia will introduce its own draft resolution, which will take into account both the results of the discussion of the US-Japanese document and its own developments.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russia was “undermining the global non-proliferation regime,” which is not the first time this has happened. Commenting on China’s position, she noted that it has shown reluctance to maintain global security in an effort to please its partner, Russia.
In turn, Japan’s permanent representative to the UN, Yamazaki Kazuyuki, said that it was “difficult for her to understand” why the Security Council could not reach unity on such an important issue, although the resolution included all the proposed points as much as possible.
In February, the United States warned its allies that Russia had plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space that could disable commercial and government satellites in low orbit. Russian President Vladimir Putin denied such intentions. However, American leader Joe Biden ordered the start of “direct” negotiations with Russia on this issue and included India and China in them.
Tags: Russia blocked Japanese draft resolution nonplacement nuclear weapons space
