Russia accuses U.S. of seeking to place weapons in space

Russia on Tuesday said the United States was seeking to place weapons in space, a day after Washington vetoed a Russian non-proliferation motion at the United Nations.

"They have once again demonstrated that their true priorities in the area of outer space are aimed not at keeping space free from weapons of any kind but at placing weapons in space and turning it into an arena for military confrontation," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

The two superpowers have traded multiple accusations of seeking to weaponize space in recent months.

In February, Washington said it was concerned by an "anti-satellite capability that Russia has developed" after U.S. media outlets reported intelligence agencies had warned that Russia could launch a nuclear weapon into orbit.

Moscow denied those accusations as "malicious" and "unfounded," saying it does not possess such systems.

Russia has since leveled similar charges at the United States.

Russia vetoed a U.S. initiative last month that called for a ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in space. Such a ban is already in place, courtesy of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the Russian envoy pointed out at the time.

Moscow said the U.S. initiative focused only on nuclear weapons and that Washington was not seriously interested in a complete ban on weapons in space.

An amendment proposed by China and Russia to that draft resolution, which proposed a ban on all kinds of weapons, could not pass following votes against it by the U.S. and six other members.

On Monday, Moscow's proposal similarly called for a ban on all kinds of weapons in space, including weapons of mass destruction. It was blocked by the United States, Britain and France in a vote.

U.S. envoy Robert Wood said Russia's proposal, which called on all countries to "take urgent measures to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space," was a distraction and accused Moscow of "diplomatic gaslighting."

Zakharova said Tuesday that Russia "will continue to make an unwavering contribution to keeping outer space free of weapons of any kind and preventing it from becoming another sphere of tension and armed confrontation."

(With input from AFP)