25.04.2024, Moscow.
Russia vetoed the US-Japanese draft resolution on non-deployment of weapons in space because the principal amendments to the document that the Russian side proposed were ignored, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on April 25.
“First of all, this [vetoing the draft resolution – Rossa Primavera News Agency] was because of the fact that the principal amendments we proposed were ignored,” Zakharova wrote.
The essence of the amendments proposed by the Russian side, according to the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, is that it is necessary to prohibit the deployment of any weapons in outer space, not only weapons of mass destruction.
Another reason for Russia’s opposition to the document is that the US side attempted to bypass specialized platforms and without proper expert discussion to create “new international legal obligations in the field of space security that go beyond the framework of existing treaties and agreements (primarily the 1967 Outer Space Treaty).”
According to the diplomat, adopting a relevant resolution would create a negative precedent that undermines the work of the UN Security Council and other forums.
“In the near future, we will introduce our own draft UN Security Council resolution, which will take into account the results of the discussion of the US-Japan document,” Zakharova said.
On April 24, during the UN Security Council meeting, Russia vetoed the draft resolution on the non-deployment of weapons in space developed by the USA and Japan.
Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya told the US representative during the meeting, “We want a ban on any weapons in space, not just weapons of mass destruction. And you don’t want that. I will ask you a question: why?”
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
