Moscow-Sana
Deputy Director of the Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Konstantin Vorontsov stressed that his country considers attempts to impose an immediate ban on nuclear weapons wrong and counterproductive.
"We sympathize with the views of those who support the early elimination of nuclear weapons, but progress in nuclear disarmament is possible only on the basis of consensus," the Russia Today channel website quoted Vorontsov as saying before the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Russian diplomat stressed that “Russia proceeds from the fact that UN states are required to reform the understanding that weapons of any kind should not be deployed in outer space and that the special concern of UN members requires the perception of space by a number of countries as an arena for launching hostilities in connection with the implementation of facilities unilateral placement of weapons in space.
Vorontsov explained that it is now very important for the unconditional prevention of an arms race in space to become the norm of national policy for UN countries, noting that UN member states should demand reform of the understanding that weapons of any kind should not be deployed in space.