WHAT DID MOSCOW SAY?
“Our place is evident and clear: We have now at all times been categorically in opposition to and at the moment are in opposition to the deployment of nuclear weapons in area,” Putin informed Sergei Shoigu, his defence minister at a televised assembly within the Kremlin.
“We urge not solely compliance with all agreements that exist on this space, but additionally supplied to strengthen this joint work many occasions,” Putin stated.
He added that Russia’s actions in area didn’t differ from these of different nations, together with america.
Commenting on the weapons in area allegations, Shoigu stated there have been no plans of the sort outlined by the unidentified sources in america.
“Firstly, there are not any such initiatives – nuclear weapons in area. Secondly, america is aware of that this doesn’t exist,” Shoigu informed Putin.
He accused the White Home of making an attempt to scare US lawmakers into allocating extra funds for Ukraine as a part of Washington’s plan to inflict what he stated was a strategic defeat on Russia.
He stated the second cause for the leaked details about the alleged Russian weapon was to encourage Russia to have interaction in a dialogue about strategic stability.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has led to probably the most critical confrontation between Moscow and the West for the reason that 1962 Cuban missile disaster, and the post-Chilly Struggle arms management structure has crumbled.
Putin stated Russia had by no means been in opposition to discussions about strategic stability.
WHAT WOULD NUKES IN SPACE MEAN?
The precise nature of the alleged weapon is unclear. Each Russia and america have huge nuclear arsenals and superior area programmes.
Threatening satellites may trigger all kinds of mischief – undermining communications, surveillance, intelligence and command and management all over the world, together with within the nuclear sphere.
However it’s unclear why Russia would want to make use of nuclear weapons to destroy a satellite tv for pc, when typical weapons may do the job, or whether or not america has been creating nuclear capabilities in area.
If Russia did develop such a weapon, then america could be pressured to do one thing related and maybe China too – and so there could be a threat of some kind of nuclear area race.
Russia and america collectively maintain about 90 per cent of the world’s nuclear weapons, and each have superior army satellites orbiting the Earth.
Within the early years of the Chilly Struggle, after Russia leaped forward within the area race and either side developed intercontinental ballistic missiles, the West proposed a treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons in area. The eventual end result was the 1967 Outer Area Treaty.
The US casts Russia and China as its greatest nation-state rivals and says each are creating a variety of latest weapons programs, together with nuclear, cyber and area capabilities.
Russia says the post-Chilly Struggle dominance of america is crumbling and that Washington has for years sown chaos throughout the planet whereas ignoring the pursuits of different powers. Moscow says america too is creating a number of latest weapons.
