TANZANIA โ The United States and Japan are sponsoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on all nations not to deploy or develop nuclear weapons in space, the U.S. ambassador announced Monday.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a U.N. Security Council meeting that โany placement of nuclear weapons into orbit around the Earth would be unprecedented, dangerous, and unacceptable.โ
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The announcement that the U.S. and Japan had circulated a resolution follows White House confirmation last month that Russia has obtained a โtroublingโ anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared later that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the U.S.
The Outer Space Treaty ratified by about 114 countries including the United States and Russia prohibits the deployment of โnuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destructionโ in orbit or the stationing of โweapons in outer space in any other manner.โ
Japanโs Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, who chaired the council meeting, said that even during โthe confrontational environmentโ of the Cold War, the rivals agreed to ensure that outer space remained peaceful. That prohibition on putting any weapons of mass destruction into orbit must be upheld today, she said.
Thomas-Greenfield said all parties to the treaty must commit to the ban on nuclear and other destructive weapons, โand we must urge all member states who are not yet party to it to accede to it without delay.โ
She said the United States looks forward to engaging with the other members of the 15-nation Security Council โto forge consensus around this text.โ
Russiaโs deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow's initial impression is that the proposed resolution is โyet another propaganda stunt by Washington,โ โvery politicizedโ and โdivorced from reality.โ
He criticized the text, saying the wording wasnโt worked out by experts nor discussed at specialized international platforms such as the U.N. Conference on Disarmament or the U.N. Committee on Outer Space.
Outside the Security Council, Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. is interested in engaging with parties to the treaty โto explore ways to increase confidence in complianceโ with the ban on nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in outer space.
โThe United States has already begun considering approaches to help ensure that countries cannot deploy nuclear weapons in orbit undetected, and we intend to engage with other states parties as our ideas evolve,โ she said.
Thomas-Greenfield also reiterated to the council the United States is willing to engage Russia and China right now, without preconditions, on bilateral arms control issues.
But Russiaโs Polyansky accused the West of โtrying to inflict strategic defeat on my country.โ
โAny interaction will only be possible if the United States and NATO review their anti- Russian course, and when they show that they are ready to participate in comprehensive dialogue, taking into account all of those strategic stability factors and removing all of the concerns that we have about our security,โ he said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefed the council, saying โgeopolitical tensions and mistrust have escalated the risk of nuclear warfare to its highest point in decades.โ
He said the movie โOppenheimerโ about Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the U.S. project during World War II that developed the atomic bomb, โbrought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.โ
โHumanity cannot survive a sequel to Oppenheimer,โ the U.N. chief said.