Russia vetoed the bill on the prohibition of nuclear weapons in space

The Russian Federation has vetoed a draft resolution of the UN Security Council aimed at countering the proliferation of weapons in outer space.

This was reported by Ukrinform's own correspondent in New York.

13 out of 15 Security Council members voted for this document, introduced by Japan and the United States (USA, Great Britain, France, Algeria, Guyana, Ecuador, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Malta, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Japan). Only Russia spoke against it, China abstained.

According to the draft resolution, "all states, especially those with significant space potential, should actively contribute to the achievement of the goal of the peaceful use of outer space and the prevention of weapons pursuit in outer space."

As Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, noted at the Security Council meeting, Russia's vote against the draft document may indicate that Moscow is hiding something.

“If you're upholding the rules, why don't you support a resolution that upholds them? She asked the representatives of the Russian delegation rhetorically. "What can you hide?"

According to Thomas-Greenfield, "China has demonstrated that it would rather defend Russia as its junior partner than the global non-proliferation regime."

"The criminal regime in Moscow did not allow the UN Security Council to adopt a draft resolution that called on all states to prevent the pursuit of weapons, in particular nuclear ones, in space," Serhii Kyslytsia, Ukraine's post-envoy to the UN, wrote on the X social network. "This happened also because war criminals are still allowed to occupy the place of the USSR as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, despite the daily crimes committed by Moscow."

A few clarifications for our readers. A nuclear explosion in space at an altitude of more than 100 km is safe for the Earth. The main danger of placing nuclear weapons in space is that the launch will be extremely difficult to track. The time it takes for warheads to reach any point on the globe will be a maximum of several minutes.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 25/04/2024