Russia advocated the creation of a treaty to prevent an arms race in space
United Nations, October 26. Russia, Belarus, Venezuela, China, North Korea, Nicaragua, and Syria advocate drafting a legally binding document to prevent an arms race in space. The joint statement of the countries was read on Tuesday by Konstantin Vorontsov, Deputy Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, at a meeting of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly.
“Belarus, China, North Korea, Nicaragua, Syria, Venezuela, and the Russian Federation view the proposal to make a political commitment not to test direct-ascent, destructive anti-satellite missiles as a step in the right direction, but insufficient to guarantee exclusively peaceful activities in space and meet the challenges of preventing an arms race in outer space,” the diplomat said.
“We reiterate the need for practical measures to launch negotiations on a legally binding comprehensive instrument to prevent an arms race in outer space with guarantees of non-deployment of weapons in space and non-use or threat of force against space objects,” he said. – We call on all UN member states to begin developing such an instrument as soon as possible in order to preserve space as a peaceful environment for the benefit of all mankind.
Willingness to negotiate
Russia is ready to discuss the entire range of space security issues with all interested states, said Vorontsov.
“We confirm our readiness to discuss the entire spectrum of space security issues with all interested states. We are convinced that launching negotiations on an international agreement banning the placement of any kind of weapons in space, the use or threat of force against or with the help of space objects is the right way to reduce tensions and ease the concerns of states in the context of ensuring the security of space activities,” said the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry department.
“Since the very beginning of space exploration Russia has maintained a consistent line to prevent an arms race in outer space and preserve space for peaceful purposes,” he said. – In this connection, we consider it necessary to begin as soon as possible to agree on an international legally binding instrument to prevent an arms race in outer space. There is a basis for such work. This is the Russian-Chinese draft treaty on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space and the use or threat of force against space objects.”
“The treaty we propose could include a ban on the placement of any kind of weapons in space, as well as the use of force or the threat of force in, from or against space,” the diplomat said. – We also call on states to commit themselves to the following obligations: not to use space objects as a means to destroy any targets on the ground, in the air or in outer space; not to destroy, damage, disrupt or alter the flight path of space objects of other states; not to create, test or deploy space weapons of any kind for any purpose, including for missile defense, as anti-satellite assets for the use of
