MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. A future strategic arms reduction treaty should include restrictions on the proliferation of weapons in space, otherwise "Star Wars’ may be a likely outcome, Alexander Mikhailov, the head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, has told TASS.
On January 28, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the Golden Dome. According to the Financial Times, the system envisages the deployment of interceptors in space equipped with lasers to destroy nuclear weapons. According to experts, the Golden Dome will also address threats from hypersonic systems.
"The Americans announced they've launched the Golden Dome program, according to which one of the stages of this program will be the deployment of missile defense elements into space, into the Earth’s orbit. What are missile defense elements? They're not just radars, they're launchers and missiles. These are the very weapons that all spacefaring nations agreed to impose non-deployment restrictions on back in the 1960s. That is, we are obliged to include restrictions on this issue in START-4. As soon as the first spacefaring nation deploys weapons into space, China, India, Russia, and Europe will follow suit. What will this end in? ‘Star Wars,’ of course," Mikhailov said.
He emphasized that the alarm must be raised on this issue now. Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at a meeting of the Security Council that Russia is prepared to continue adhering to the central quantitative restrictions for one year after the expiration of the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty (New START) in February 2026.