(PatriotSpotlight.org) – On Monday, 18 March the United States and Japan introduced a joint resolution at the United Nations Security Council which calls on member states to ban the development or deployment of nuclear weapons beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield stressed the unprecedented risk nuclear weapons could pose if they were deployed into the Earth’s orbit. This resolution comes on the back of recent claims from the White House that Russia has acquired anti-satellite weapon capabilities, although they are not currently active. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow does not intend to “militarize space” with such technology and said Moscow’s endeavors mirror that of the US military.
The Outer Space Treaty, ratified by over a hundred countries including the US and Russia, explicitly prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons or any other form of mass destruction in space. Japan’s foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, who chaired this week’s UN Security Council meeting, stressed the need to honor the landmark treaty’s provisions, especially in light of rising tensions with China, Russia and in the Middle East.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield echoed the call for all nations to adhere to the treaty’s prohibitions and called on nations not yet signed on to the agreement to join it. She also acknowledged the US’s willingness to engage in arms control talks with both Russia and China without any preconditions. However, Moscow slammed the resolution as a politically biased “propaganda stunt” on Washington’s behalf. Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the US, even argued that the text was “divorced” from reality, and lacking both expertise and the appropriate level of international consultation.
Briefing the UNSC, UN Secretary-General António Guterres evoked the grim specter of nuclear warfare, even referencing the recent hit film “Oppenheimer” which depicted the horrors of nuclear weaponry. The forwarded resolution from the American and Japanese delegations aims to mitigate the risks of nuclear conflict by encouraging global cooperation and enforcement of existing treaties.
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