(ReliableNews.org) – Former President Donald Trump once said he thought space would be the next battleground. That’s why he created the Space Force while in office. It appears he was right, the world is headed in that direction.
The most recent saga began in April when Russia vetoed a United Nations resolution that would have prohibited countries from putting nuclear weapons in space. The United States and Japan backed the measure. In early May, Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN ambassador, said the US and Japan were guilty of “hypocrisy and double standards.” He also alleged America and its Western allies were going to launch a military exploration of space and deploy weapons. Specifically, Nebenzia claimed they were going to put “strike combat systems” in space.
In response to the concerns, Russia sponsored a measure to prohibit all weapons in outer space. On Monday, May 20, the UN Security Council voted on, but didn’t pass the Russian measure. The council was evenly split 7-7. Switzerland abstained from voting. It failed to pass because it didn’t receive nine votes.
They accused the Eastern European nation of launching a satellite. The leaders claimed the only reason Russia brought the resolution to the floor banning weapons was to deflect from Vladimir Putin’s intention to weaponize space.
US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood called it “diplomatic gaslighting.”
Nebenzia denied the allegations being lobbed against Russia. He called it a “unique moment of truth” for the West. The Russian ambassador went on to say that if the US and its allies showed they wanted to “expedite the militarization of outer space.”
Paul Meyer, Canada’s former ambassador, was clearly frustrated by the disagreements. He slammed the nations for being more interested in “scoring political points off their adversaries” than actually engaging one another in constructive conversations.
There’s already a law in place, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, that bars nations from bringing weapons into space. Meyer called that an important agreement because a fight in space could hurt the vital systems that people around the world need.
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