BRUSSELS, November 19. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Council firmly condemned the recent anti-satellite missile test conducted by Russia, according to a NATO statement released on Friday. The North Atlantic Alliance stated that this test had constituted "irresponsible behavior" which undermines the rules-based international order.
"The North Atlantic Council strongly condemns the Russian Federation’s reckless and irresponsible anti-satellite missile test on 15 November 2021. This test caused an orbital debris field that significantly increases risk to human life and to the space-based assets of numerous nations and entities," NATO insisted.
The intergovernmental military alliance believes that Russia’s actions "endanger the security, economic, scientific, and commercial interests of all nations and actors seeking to explore and use outer space for peaceful purposes." According to the alliance, this test "directly contradicts Russia’s claims to oppose the "weaponisation" of space, and undermines the rules-based international order."
NATO Allies remain committed "to protecting and preserving the peaceful access to and exploration of space for all humanity." "We call upon all nations, including Russia, to join the international efforts to develop norms, rules and principles of responsible behavior in order to reduce space threats, and to refrain from conducting dangerous and irresponsible destructive tests like those carried out by the Russian Federation," a NATO statement says.
Earlier, similar tests were carried out by the United States, China and India.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry announced the test, during which a defunct Russian space satellite was successfully destroyed. The Ministry underscored that it is carrying out planned activities on the reinforcement of the defense potential and recalled that the main goal of the new US space strategy is the "establishment of a complex military supremacy" in this field. The ministry assured that the remaining debris posed no threat to the International Space Station or other satellites. It stressed that the fragments had been included in the main catalog of the national space monitoring system and began to be tracked right away. They will remain under observation until the time they burn up in the atmosphere.