ALBAWABA - The United States and Japan have endorsed a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution urging all states not to install or develop nuclear weapons in space, according to the US ambassador.
The announcement follows the White House's declaration last month that Russia had secured a "troubling" anti-satellite missile capability, although such a weapon is not currently operational.
Russian President Vladimir Putin subsequently stated that Moscow has no plans to put nuclear weapons in space, asserting that the country has just acquired space capabilities equivalent to those the United States possesses.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UNSC, told a UN Security Council meeting that "any placement of nuclear weapons into orbit around the Earth would be unprecedented, dangerous, and unacceptable".
Yoko Kamikawa, Japan's foreign minister, convened the council meeting and stated that even during "the confrontational environment" of the Cold War, global rivals agreed to keep outer space peaceful. The restriction on placing weapons of mass destruction into orbit must be enforced today, she stated.
According to Thomas-Greenfield, all treaty parties must agree to the ban on nuclear and other destructive weapons, "and we must urge all member states who are not yet party to it to accede to it without delay".
In February, the White House stated that a new Russian anti-satellite weapon was being monitored but did not pose an imminent threat to anyone's safety.
A spokesperson did not confirm or reject rumors that the new weapon was nuclear. Still, she did state that it was "space-based" and violated the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prevents nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction from being deployed in space.
Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's deputy US ambassador, condemned Monday's proposed US-Japan resolution as "yet another propaganda stunt by Washington," "very politicized," and "divorced from reality".
