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Russia-China ties in space exploration evolve rapidly — Roscosmos head

Yury Borisov recalled that Russia had recently submitted a resolution to the United Nations that is designed to make the military use of outer space almost impossible

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. The relationship between Russia and China in the space exploration field is developing dynamically, Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov said.

On Thursday, Moscow hosted a meeting of chiefs of space agencies of the BRICS member states, which was chaired by Russia.

"We have deepened our relations with the Chinese side. Now they are very constructive and dynamic, which is a pleasure for both the Chinese side and us. We will be carrying on [this work] in this area," he said on the Rossiya-24 television channel.

Borisov recalled that Russia had recently submitted a resolution to the United Nations that is designed to make the military use of outer space almost impossible.

"You know the outcome of the debate on this resolution. Here is the answer for you. However, we simply want to show again the entire civilized community and all the leading countries that are not BRICS members that our intentions are not empty words, but that we will consistently be moving ahead in this area," he said, lambasting as a total nonsense the attempts to blame Russia for space militarization.

Voting at UN Security Council

On May 20, the United Nations Security Council voted down the Russia-drafted resolution on the prevention of an arms race in outer space. Out of 15 members of the UN Security Council, seven voted for the resolution, namely Algeria, China, Ecuador, Guyana, Mozambique, Russia, Sierra Leone and Ecuador. Malta, Slovenia, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States voted against, while Switzerland abstained. A resolution is considered adopted if nine members of the UN Security Council support it and none of the permanent members vetoes it.

The 10-paragraph draft resolution authored by Russia calls on all the countries to "to take urgent measures to prevent the stationing of weapons in outer space." The draft resolution emphasizes "the need for further measures, including political commitments and legally binding instruments, to prevent an arms race in outer space in all its dimensions."