Russia: US intends to deploy weapons in space

Russia has accused the United States of trying to deploy weapons in space, a day after the UN Security Council rejected a Russian draft resolution on the matter, AFP reported.
"With the rejection of this text by Washington and its allies, the United States has demonstrated that its goal is to place weapons in outer space and turn it into an arena of military confrontation," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
In recent months, the two global powers have traded multiple accusations of seeking to weaponize space.
In February, Washington said it was concerned about "the anti-satellite potential that Russia has developed."
The comments came after US media reported that intelligence agencies had warned allies about the possibility of Russia launching a nuclear weapon into orbit.
Moscow dismissed the accusations as "malicious" and "baseless" and said it had no such systems.
Since then, Russia has made similar accusations against the United States.
As part of the dispute, the countries have put forward competing proposals for nuclear non-proliferation at the UN.
Russia vetoed the US initiative last month, while Moscow's proposal was blocked by the US, Britain and France in a May 20 vote.
Moscow described the US initiative as "focused only on nuclear weapons" and added that Washington was not seriously interested in a complete ban on weapons in space.
US envoy Robert Wood stressed that Russia's proposal, which calls on all countries to "take urgent measures to permanently prevent the deployment of weapons in outer space", was a distraction and accused Moscow of a "diplomatic overrun".
Russia "will continue to make its unwavering contribution to keeping outer space free from all kinds of weapons and preventing it from becoming another sphere of tension and armed confrontation," Zakharova said.
Space is a rare area where the two countries still have some degree of cooperation despite multiple Western sanctions and strained relations amid Russia's offensive in Ukraine.
The two countries shuttle each other's crew members to and from the International Space Station (ISS), where their astronauts are co-located. /BGNES