Russia is looking to deploy nuclear weapons in the outer space to increase its influence and satellites potentially, said the NATO chief.
The Kremlin has faced growing accusations of participating in sabotage against the critical Western infrastructure, such as submarine international cables, and according to NATO general secretary Mark Rutte, the Kremlin can have the view in a much more significant objective.
Talking to him Welt German am sonntag Newspaper, former Dutch prime minister said: “We are aware of the reports that Russia is examining the possibility of placing nuclear weapons in space.”
Rutte said that Russia’s capabilities in space are “outdated” and, therefore, the Kremlin can treat the playing field against Western powers deploying nuclear weapons in space.
The Head of the Western Military Alliance said that such weapons would probably not be used to attack the objectives on Earth, but rather against satellites, which in turn could cause chaos on earth.
“Space -based systems directly affect our lifestyle, for example, ensuring that cell phones, banking services and time forecasts work,” he said. “But space is also very important for our deterrence and defense, as important as the areas of land, sea, air and cyberspace.”
Rutte said that the deployment of nuclear weapons in space would violate the 1967 outer space treaty, or that Russia was signatory.
In fact, article IV of the treaty establishes that nations are prohibited from putting in “orbit around the earth any object that transports nuclear weapons or any other types of weapons or mass destruction, installing such weapons in celestial bodies or bodies of stationer”
NATO has been increasingly concerned about space as a potential conflict area, announcing in 2021 that article 5 of the Alliance Treaty, which requires all members to defend themselves from another if it is attacked, space too.
The Alliance also established the NATO Space Center in Ramstein, Germany, in 2020, after formally recognizing the space as an operational domain together with the air, the cyber, the earth and the sea.
This occurred after President Donald Trump created the space force of the United States (USSF) as the sixth branch of the American Armed Forces in 2019.
“The space is the newest dominion of the world,” Trump said at that time, adding: “American superiority in space is absolutely vital.”
