MOSCOW, February 29. /TASS/. Allegations that Russia plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space are unfounded, President Vladimir Putin said in his annual State of the Nation Address to both houses of the Federal Assembly, the Russian parliament.

"There has recently been an increasing number of unfounded accusations against Russia, alleging that we plan to deploy nuclear weapons in space. Such bogus stories - and they are nothing but bogus stories - are a ploy to drag us into talks on their terms, which only benefit the US," the president noted.

However, in Putin’s words, the US "is blocking Russia’s initiatives that have been lying on their table for over 15 years." "What I mean is the draft treaty on preventing the deployment of weapons in space that we developed back in 2008. There has been no reaction whatsoever. It’s totally unclear what they are talking about," the head of state explained.