MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Russia wants to turn outer space into a weapon-free zone of cooperation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Wednesday.

"Our country is working on adopting joint statements with other countries to refuse to be the first to place weapons in outer space. Thus, we are trying to make space a weapon-free zone of peace and cooperation, and focus on the development of peaceful technologies," Zakharova said on the occasion of Cosmonautics Day, marked on Wednesday.

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin was the first human to go into space. Now this day is celebrated annually in Russia as Cosmonautics Day. It was established by a decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet on April 9, 1962 "to commemorate the world's first flight into space by a Soviet man.".