MOSCOW, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The risk of space turning into an arena of military confrontation continues to grow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
Responding to a question from Xinhua at her regular press briefing regarding remarks by U.S. officials on space policy, Zakharova said that U.S. policies in the field of space exploration and space security have recently become increasingly aggressive.
"Officials in Washington openly declare their intention to ensure their forceful dominance in near-Earth space," she said, adding that "all this confirms the validity of our assessments regarding the rapidly deteriorating situation in the field of space security and the growing threat of space turning into an arena of military confrontation."
Russia believes any armed conflict in space would have catastrophic consequences for the sustainability of all countries' space activities and the prospects for space exploration, Zakharova noted.
Under current circumstances, initiatives to prevent an arms race in space are more urgently needed than ever before, she said, adding that, in particular, there is a need to develop a legally binding special international instrument on the matter.
Zakharova said Russia will maintain close coordination with China and continue to make constructive efforts to safeguard the common interests of all humanity and advance space security.
On June 10, 2014, China and Russia jointly submitted an updated draft of the "Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects" to the UN-sponsored plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, proposing the negotiation of a new international legal instrument to prevent an arms race and the weaponization of outer space. ■