Major General Andrei Sterlin, head of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, has criticized the U.S. for trying to weaponize outer space.

“The Pentagon considers space as a potential theatre of military operations and it [demands maintaining] complete freedom of manoeuvre,” he said. “The US refuses to hold talks on the basis of the Russian-Chinese draft treaty on the prevention of the placement of weapons in space and on the formation of an international legal framework [that would limit] its ability to use space for military purposes,” Sterlin added.

He was referring to 2008, when Russia and China put forward, for discussion at the Disarmament Conference, the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space — the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects. The document sought to maintain outer space free of weapons and open for peaceful research by all states without exception.

Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov told reporters late last year that Washington’s aspirations to dominate in military space may potentially pose risks to the security of both Russia and China.

Source:  Sputnik News