Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday warned that the United States’ acknowledgement that it has deployed weapons in orbit could threaten the long-term stability of activities in space and create serious consequences if conflict spreads beyond Earth.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Washington was ignoring the potential consequences of an armed conflict in orbit in pursuit of what she described as its own interests.
“In pursuit of its narrow self-interests, Washington is ready to completely ignore the catastrophic consequences for humanity of any armed conflict in orbit,” she said in a statement published on the ministry’s website.
Zakharova also warned that the presence of US weapons in space could jeopardise future space exploration and create risks for economic and social activities on Earth.
“Colossal risks are created for numerous socio-economic processes on Earth and people’s well-being directly depends on them,” she said.
Her comments came after US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said on Monday that Washington possessed “on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action”.
The statement was the strongest acknowledgement yet by a senior US official that American weapons are deployed in space, amid growing military tensions involving the US, Russia and China.
Zakharova accused Washington of attempting to divert global attention from what she described as US efforts to expand its military capabilities in space, including what she called “absurd” allegations that Moscow was developing anti-satellite weapons.
She also criticised a moratorium on testing anti-satellite missiles promoted by Western countries, arguing that it did not cover weapons already possessed by the US or other types of anti-satellite systems Washington was seeking to develop.
Zakharova said Russia would submit resolutions to the United Nations General Assembly next month calling for a ban on deploying weapons in space and greater transparency in the use of space.
