The actions of the US administration of President Donald Trump to create the "Golden Dome" missile defense system are turning space into an arena of armed confrontation, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
“The steps taken by the Trump administration to develop the US missile defense system “Golden Dome for America“, which provides for a significant strengthening of the arsenal of means of conducting combat operations in space, including the deployment of interceptor systems in orbit, are a direct path not only to the militarization of space, but also to its transformation into an arena of armed confrontation“, he said.
Ryabkov stressed that such actions by the US provoke an escalation of tension and a race in the militarization of space, exacerbate mutual distrust and create serious obstacles to cooperation between states in the peaceful use of outer space.
“All this is fraught with "the most serious negative consequences for international security," the deputy minister added.
“To counter Washington's steps to deploy weapons in space, together with like-minded people, we are making efforts to quickly start negotiations to develop an international legally binding instrument to prevent an arms race in space, prohibiting the deployment of any type of weapons there, the use of force or threat of force against space objects or with their help“, continued Ryabkov.
He noted that Moscow considers the submitted Russian-Chinese draft of a disarmament treaty as its basis, as well as the consensus-approved report of the group of governmental experts, which functioned in 2023-2024.
“In this regard, we attach an important role to the international initiative undertaken by Russia for the assumption by the UN member states of political obligations not to be the first in "...the placement of weapons in space, in which 37 countries have already participated," he said. American programs such as Golden Dome will become an obstacle to new initiatives in the field of control over nuclear and missile weapons," Ryabkov said.
According to him, the dialogue in the field of arms control requires taking into account the inextricable link between strategic offensive and strategic defensive weapons. However, the very concept of the "Golden Dome" project "completely denies the interdependence" between them.
Ryabkov stressed that not only Russia, but also China sees a problem in this.