MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Moscow is waiting for Washington to answer its questions about the US activities in outer space, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday, commenting on the statements by Gen. John Raymond, the first chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, about Russia’s alleged test launch of an antisatellite missile.
"We also have a lot of questions. We asked them quite a long time ago and want to have an answer after all. A full-fledged meaningful Russian-US dialogue on a wide spectrum of issues of space activities security Russian and US senior diplomats agreed on on January 16 will help resolve mutual concerns," she said.
Zakharova described Raymond’s statements as "Washington’s deliberate campaign to discredit Russia’s space activities and peace initiatives to prevent an arms race in outer space." She recalled that it was not the first such allegation voiced by the US side. "Previously, such claims were voiced by US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Ford. We have commented on each and every such anti-Russian attack which are all nothing but the United States’ attempt to divert public attention from real threats in space and to justify its moves to deploy weapons in outer space and obtain extra financing for such causes," Zakharova stressed.
"It is obvious that serious concerns, if any, cannot be resolved by means of such statements, by means of fakes. It is necessary to use the existing channels for expert and political dialogue for that," the diplomat stated. "We do have such channels and it is necessary simply to use them. Unwillingness to do so is rather an evidence of insufficiently grounded position of our American colleagues."
The Russian diplomat reiterated Russia’s preparedness to discuss space activities involving the sides’ corresponding agencies and organizations.