Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia is against deploying nuclear weapons in space, and his defense minister rejected US claims that Russia is developing nuclear capabilities for space. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Washington believes Moscow is developing a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon whose detonation could disrupt everything from military communications to phone-based services. It is possible.
Putin told his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, “Our position is clear and transparent. “We have always been and continue to be unequivocally against the deployment of nuclear weapons in space.” “We not only urge compliance with all existing agreements in this area, but also offer to strengthen this joint work many times over,” Putin said.
He further said that Russia’s activities in space are no different from those of other countries, including the United States. The clearest public indication that Washington thinks Moscow is working on a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon was a White House spokesman’s comments on Thursday that the system being developed would violate the Outer Space Treaty.
The 1967 treaty prohibits signatories – which also include Russia and the United States – from placing “objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other type of weapon of mass destruction in orbit around the Earth.” The New York Times reported that US intelligence was concerned about Russia’s efforts to develop space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapons.