Comments to the media by Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, on the draft resolution prohibiting placement of nuclear weapons in outer space, attack on Iranian diplomatic premises in Syria and Palestine.
Vasily Nebenzya, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, commented today (11 Apr) on a draft resolution prohibiting placement of nuclear weapons in outer space.
He said, “The US and Japan have presented to the Security Council a draft resolution proposing prohibiting placement of nuclear weapons in outer space. It looks seemingly positive, but there are important pitfalls which our Western colleagues try to conceal in this regard.”
He also said, “The issue of nuclear weapons is a subject of expert discussions in relevant international fora where we actively participate. One of the problems of the US-Japan draft is that it preempts these discussions and contains obligations that have never been examined in relevant disarmament fora by the full membership of the Outer Space Treaty.”
He continued, “Outer space should remain a peaceful domain without any weapons, including nuclear. But the pen holders fiercely resist our arguments. In other words, they want to include an obligation of non-development of nuclear weapons specifically designed to be placed in outer space but resist to include a wider similar obligation pertaining to any kind of weapons.”
He stated, “The only aim of the draft is to politicize the issue, support baseless US allegations against Russia and to try to put us in an awkward position.”
He added, “They also want to avoid any obligations that will prevent them from doing what they're doing now: developing weapons systems that can be placed in outer space. Make no mistake here, as they say.”