Agence France-Presse, A Russian general warned Sept. 27 against other countries trying to dominate space by deploying weapons there, in comments partly aimed at the United States.
“We don’t want to fight in space but, on the other hand, we will not permit any other country to lord it over the cosmos,” Gen. Vladimir Popovkin was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.
Popovkin, the military’s officer responsible for space issues, said any deployment of weapons in space would have “the most dangerous consequences.”
In January, President Vladimir Putin warned that the U.S. had plans to militarize space.
Popovkin said Russia and China had already begun work on drafting documents for regulating the issue.
“If a country deploys weapons in space, the laws of the arms race are that opposing weapons will appear … It’s necessary to set in law the rules of the game in space,” he was quoted by RIA-Novosti news agency as saying.
Besides reflecting concerns about U.S. intentions in space, Popovkin was also speaking amid an ongoing dispute with Washington over plans to extend U.S. missile defense facilities into central Europe.
Popovkin said China’s shooting down of a satellite in January using a ballistic missile had “forced everyone to think, including our American partners.”
Under Putin, Russia has drawn close to China on military matters, while becoming increasingly critical of Washington.
