Russia, China, others call to France and NATO for legal document to prevent placing weapons in space

MOSCOW, September 9. / TASS The security situation after the United States withdrew from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty) was discussed at a joint meeting of Russian and French foreign and defense ministers. This was announced on Monday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a joint conference following consultations.

We dwelt in detail on the situation in the sphere of strategic stability that developed after the U.S, left the INF Treaty,” he noted. “Our position on this issue is known. It has been repeatedly confirmed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. We will not place such systems in those regions where similar American-made systems will appear. “
According to him, the Russian side also made proposals to agree on this with NATO colleagues, but “NATO has so far refrained from a concrete reaction.

The Russian Foreign Minister expressed particular concern about the prospect of moving the arms race into space. “The United States practically in its doctrinal documents provided this opportunity, and today we asked our French partners to clarify the provisions of their own military space doctrine, which was adopted on July 25,” Lavrov continued.

“In connection with the space theme, we called on our colleagues to take a responsible approach to those discussions that are unfolding at the UN and at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva around the proposal of the Russian Federation, China and a number of other countries to adopt a legally binding document on preventing the placement of weapons in cosmic space.”

SOURCE: https://tass.com/world/1077237