Russia exercised its veto right in the UN Security Council regarding the draft resolution proposed by the United States and Japan on the non-placement of weapons of mass destruction in space.
Before the vote, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, pointed out that the document aimed to deepen the division among Security Council members. In turn, Russia and China proposed an amendment to the draft resolution, providing measures to prevent all weapons in space. In the end, it was rejected.
Thirteen of the 15 UN Security Council member states voted in favor of the resolution, while representatives of China abstained from voting.
The United States and Japan rejected Russia’s proposal on April 11 to include a prohibition on the deployment of all weapons, not just nuclear ones, in the draft resolution of the United Nations Security Council. Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, stated that Russia complies completely with its commitments not to deploy such weaponry into space but that Western nations are attempting to obscure “significant pitfalls” in preparing the resolution. Nebenzya emphasized that the American resolution seeks to politicize this matter and lend support to Washington’s allegations regarding Moscow’s purported intentions to utilize nuclear weaponry in outer space.
According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, no offensive weapons should exist in space. Russia and the United States are in contact regarding the non-deployment of nuclear weapons in space while Washington tries to blacken Russia’s reputation and fabricates falsehoods about alleged weapon deployment in space, the diplomat said. Ryabkov added that Russia does not see the need to use a de-conflicting channel with the United States on space issues.
