UNITED NATIONS, May 20. /TASS/. The US has confirmed its true plans to militarize space by voting against Russia’s draft resolution on preventing an arms race in space at the UN Security Council (UNSC), Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said at the council’s session.
"The United States and its allies with their typical cynicism were loudly proclaiming their adherence to peaceful space. Today, after they confirmed their true intentions to continue militarizing space and develop relevant weapons, their attempts to justify their actions by the purportedly non-consensual nature of our draft look particularly shameless and hypocritical," the Russian diplomat said.
"The reason why you did not support our draft today is pretty simple: you just want to have complete freedom to use space for military purposes and deploy there any types of arms," he said.
"Naturally, the current situation requires our analysis and response. That said, Russia continues to adhere to its obligations in outer space in accordance with international law," he added.
Earlier, the UNSC failed to adopt a Russia-initiated draft resolution on preventing an arms race in outer space. Seven out of 15 UNSC members, including Russia and China, voted in favor of the resolution, while seven voted against and Switzerland abstained. A resolution is adopted when supported by nine Security Council members and vetoed by neither of the permanent members.