Russia vetoes UN resolution on placing nuclear weapons in space

13 out of 15 countries voted for this resolution. Russia opposed it, and China abstained.

Russia called the measure politicized and said it did not go far enough in banning all weapons in space.

The UN said the resolution would call on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in space, prohibited by a 1967 international treaty that included the US and Russia, and agree to the need to verify compliance.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said Moscow had no intention of putting nuclear weapons in space, but the country’s veto showed the government might be hiding something.

Putin later said Moscow had no intention of placing nuclear weapons in space, saying the country had only developed space capabilities similar to the United States.