30 Apr / 2024
On April 24, Russian Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution, developed jointly by the United States and Japan, that urged “all States, in particular those with major space capabilities, to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space”.
This was reported on the official United Nations website.
The vote in the Security Council that consists of 15 members was 13 in favour, while Russia opposed and China abstained.
“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield commented on the vote as Putin previously said Russia wasn’t to deploy nuclear weapons in space, AP reported.
Later, the White House issued a statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
“The United States assesses that Russia is developing a new satellite carrying a nuclear device. We have heard President Putin say publicly that Russia has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space. If that were the case, Russia would not have vetoed this resolution,” says the statement.
In February, 2024, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that the US intelligence knew about Russia’s new sapce-based anti-satellite weapon that violated the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
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