All news

NATO statements on space complicate achievement of agreements in this field — diplomat

The document was adopted in the wake of the NATO summit and published Monday

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/. NATO threats of use of collective defense in case of Russia’s attack in space complicate the prospects of agreements in this field, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"There were threats of initiative of the Article 5 [of the North Atlantic Treaty] regarding collective defense in case of ‘attacks in space and cyberspace’," Zakharova said. "Of course, this lowers the threshold of the use of force, it worsens the situation in security for all countries, and significantly complicates the prospect of achievement of universal agreements, aimed at prevention of use of space and cyber in non-peaceful ways," she said.

The statement, adopted in the wake of the NATO summit and published Monday, claims that Article 5 could be initiated in response to attacks in space. The Article stipulates that an attack on any member state of the alliance is viewed as an aggression against all its members. The statement underscores that the decision on initiation of Article 5 will be made after examination of each individual case.