The nation led by Vladimir Putin claimed that the UN resolution was “absurd and politicized” and did not go far enough.
Russia vetoed a UN resolution to prevent a nuclear arms race in space.
Russia vetoed a resolution UN Security Councilpowered by USA and Japanwhich sought to prevent a nuclear arms race in space.
The Security Council is made up of 15 members, of which 13 voted in favor of the resolution, while China abstained and Russia rejected it, considering that the measure was politicized and did not go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.
The policy sought to prevent countries from developing or deploying nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction in space, something that was prohibited in a 1967 international treaty that includes Russia and the United States.
For her part, the United States ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfieldstated after the vote that although Vladimir Putin confirmed that it has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, the Russian veto raises the question about what the government may be hiding.
The announcement of the resolution was made on March 18 by Thomas-Greenfield herself, after the White House spread the information that Russia had developed a “worrying” anti-satellite weapons technology, although such weapons are not yet operational.
Russia’s position on the UN resolution
However, after that information, Putin declared that Moscow does not plan to deploy nuclear weapons in space and that Russia had only developed a space capability similar to that of the United States.
Vassily Nebenzia 2.jpg
For his part, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenziatold the Council before the vote that the resolution was “absurd and politicized”. Likewise, he proposed an amendment to the project that said that an arms race in space should refer to all types of weapons, not just nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. However, with seven votes in favor, seven against and one abstention, the Russian proposal was rejected, since it did not reach the nine votes necessary for approval.
Source: Ambito
