According to a New York Times report last week, Russia has developed nuclear capabilities for use in space.
Months after sending a military satellite into Earth's orbit amid the intensifying space race, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates in the Kremlin clarified their position on deploying nuclear weapons in space.
According to a New York Times In last week's report, Russia has developed nuclear capabilities for use in space.
US officials called for the declassification of information about a “serious threat to national security” related to a “destabilizing foreign military capability.”
The report also cited by other media outlets claimed “Russian efforts to develop a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon.”
However, they also noted that the weapon would not be used to attack humans and was not yet active, “calling the matter serious but not an immediate threat.”
Responding to US media claims, Vladimir Putin told his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday that Moscow has not deployed nuclear-capable weapons in space and has no intention of doing so.
“Our position is clear and transparent: we have always been categorically against and now we are against the deployment of nuclear weapons in space,” Putin told Shoigu, adding that “we urge not only compliance with all agreements that exist in this area, but also to “He offered many times to strengthen this joint work.
The 71-year-old also stated that Russia's activities in space are no different from those of other countries, including the United States.
Fear over aid to Ukraine
Responding to media claims backed by intelligence reports, Shoigu said there were no plans of the type described by unnamed sources in the United States.
“Firstly, there are no such projects – nuclear weapons in space. Secondly, the United States knows that this does not exist,” Shoigu told President Putin.
He said the accusations are only to scare US lawmakers into providing more aid to Ukraine as part of Washington's plan to inflict what he said was “a strategic defeat on Russia.”
He said the second reason for the leaked information about the alleged Russian weapon was to encourage Russia to engage in dialogue on strategic stability.
The confrontation between the United States and Russia began with Moscow's special military operation that began in February 2022.
Putin said Russia had never been against discussions on strategic stability, but also maintained that it was impossible to divide what the West's goal of defeating Russia was and talks on strategic security.
“If they seek to inflict strategic defeat on us, then we must think about what strategic stability means for our country,” Putin said.
“So we don't reject anything, we don't give up anything, but we have to find out what they want. Typically they want to achieve unilateral advantages. That's not going to happen.”
Putin did not rule out talks at the Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs level with the United States on strategic stability.
The deployment of nuclear weapons in space is prohibited under the Outer Space Treaty, signed by the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom.
