Russia proposes plan to prevent space arms race after US weapons admission

The US’ first-ever confirmation related to deployment of space weapons in orbit has rattled the international community, raising concerns related to weaponization of outer space and fueling arms race.

On Tuesday, the US military confirmed that it deployed in-orbit weapons in the Earth’s orbit aimed at enhancing offensive capabilities and protecting national security.

The acknowledgement drew responses from Russia as the US considered it a potential competitor and threat in space. The Pentagon also alleged that Russia is strengthening its capabilities in orbit.

“Russia views space as a warfighting domain and believes space supremacy will be a decisive factor in future conflicts,” US Space Force said.

Russia responded with an urge to take action to prevent an arms race in space. According to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, a legally-binding international treaty must be enacted to outlaw the deployment of offensive weapons in space while urging US and other nations to set aside their scepticism about the idea.

Ryabkov further added that the acknowledgement of weapons deployment did not come as a surprise for Moscow, although we were unaware of it.

"This is nothing new to us; we are monitoring ‌all ⁠of this, recording it all, and drawing the appropriate conclusions,” he said, adding that Moscow had long vouched of the need for a treaty that would rule out the use of force in space or the ​threat of force against ​objects in ⁠space.

"The Americans and other Westerners, in particular the British, have for many years used inflammatory excuses to cover ​up their unwillingness to move in this direction; they ​seek out ⁠spurious arguments to avoid doing so and attempt to turn the tables by accusing us of activities which, in their view, are destabilising in nature,” ⁠said ​Ryabkov.

“But we believe that it is not ​yet too late to create an environment that would preclude an arms race with escalating risks ​of open conflict in outer space.”

On Tuesday, China also slammed the US for weaponizing outer space. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson said, "We urge the US side to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in outer space.”