Russia: UN Vow on Banning Space Weapons05/02 06:08

   

   UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Russia has circulated a U.N. resolution calling on 
all countries to take urgent action to prevent putting weapons in outer space 
"for all time" a week after it vetoed a U.S.-Japan resolution to stop an arms 
race in space.

   The Russian draft resolution, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, 
goes further than the U.S.-Japan proposal, not only calling for efforts to stop 
weapons from being deployed in outer space but for preventing "the threat or 
use of force in outer space," also "for all time."

   It says this should include deploying weapons "from space against Earth, and 
from Earth against objects in outer space."

   Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council when he 
vetoed the U,S.-Japan draft that it didn't go far enough in banning all types 
of weapons in space.

   The vetoed resolution focused solely on weapons of mass destruction 
including nuclear arms, and made no mention of other weapons in space.

   It would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms 
or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 
international treaty that the U.S. and Russia ratified, and to agree to the 
need to verify compliance.

   Before the U.S.-Japan resolution was put to a vote on April 24, Russia and 
China proposed an amendment that would call on all countries, especially those 
with space capabilities, "to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in 
outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces."

   The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the 
amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 "yes" votes in 
the 15-member Security Council required for adoption.

   U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council after the vote that 
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying 
nuclear weapons in space.

   "Today's veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, 
would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly 
be hiding," she asked. "It's baffling. And it's a shame."

   Putin was responding to White House confirmation in February that Russia has 
obtained a "troubling" anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon 
is not operational yet.

   Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said after casting the veto that 
the U.S.-Japan resolution cherry picked weapons of mass destruction.

   He said much of the U.S. and Japan's actions become clear "if we recall that 
the U.S. and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons ... in 
outer space."

   Nebenzia also accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 
2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.

   Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent 
the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking "dangerous nuclear 
rhetoric," walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and 
refusing to engage "in substantive discussions around arms control or risk 
reduction."

   Much of the Russian draft resolution is exactly the same as the U.S.-Japan 
draft, including the language on preventing an arms race in space.

   It calls on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, 
"to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and 
of the prevention of an arms race in outer space."

   Thomas-Greenfield said the world is just beginning to understand "the 
catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space."