The United Nations Security Council has voted against a resolution introduced by Russia and China that would ban member states from placing weapons of any kind in outer space.
This isn’t the first time these two countries have suggested such an idea. In late April, the United States and Japan introduced a resolution of their own that sought specifically to ban the deployment of weapons of mass destruction; at the time, Russia and China introduced an amendment to this resolution that had similar tones to their recent resolution that’s been struck down. That Russian-Chinese amendment sought to “prevent for all time the placement o weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer space.”
Votes were counted for the American-Japanese resolution last month; 13 countries voted “yes,” while China abstained and Russia voted “no.” The resolution was ultimately vetoed.
The latest Russian-Chinese resolution, introduced on May 20 and now shot down as well, was largely the same as the one vetoed in April. However, it also proactively included the amendment these countries proposed for the previous one. When voting on this new resolution, seven countries voted in favor, seven voted against, and one — Switzerland — abstained.
Ambassadors for the U.S. and Russia traded barbs following the vote. Russia’s permanent U.N. representative Vassily Nebenzia said it was “deeply regrettable” that Western nations on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) would not vote in favor of “preserving space exclusively for peaceful use.”
“By doing so, they have finally taken off their masks and, exposed themselves, and shown us what they really are,” Nebenzia said in a statement following the vote.
“The United States will not support this disingenuous resolution,” U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood said in a pre-vote statement. “For our part, the United States will continue to demonstrate how space activities can be conducted in a responsible, peaceful, and sustainable manner in order to preserve the benefits of space for current and future generations.”
“We also will continue to put a bright spotlight on Russia’s troubling actions in space, and how they diverge from its statements here in the Security Council,” Wood’s statement continues.
Experts and representatives from other nations expressed their dismay in the back-and-forth bickering over these space-based resolutions. “We have this negative, squabbling attitude among leading space powers that seem more interested in scoring points off their adversaries rather than engaging in constructive dialogue,” said Paul Meyer, Canadas former ambassador for disarmament and a fellow at the Vancouver-based Outer Space Institute, according to the Associated Press.
Source: https://www.space.com/russian-space-weapon-ban-un-security-council
