Russia warns against weapons in space

[seemslikeadream]

Friday, June 3, 2005

MOSCOW -- Russia will retaliate against any country that puts weapons into space, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said yesterday, signalling the faded superpower's anxiety about U.S. military hardware in orbit.

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"Maybe we will make stronger connections with China and India," Mr. Kazennov said. "We have other ways to solve our problems, because Americans are already the champions in technology."

Ivan Oelrich, director of the strategic-security project at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said no country other than the United States has the ability to put weapons in space, but that advantage shouldn't make the U.S. administration feel free to develop high-flying military hardware.

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The report was partly confirmed by White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who said the United States is reviewing space-policy doctrine. The United States is not contemplating the militarization of space, Mr. McClellan said, but the U.S. government intends to protect satellites from new forms of attack.

In April, the United States launched a small, experimental satellite named XSS-11, which has the ability to manoeuvre close to other satellites. Its official purpose is to gather information about objects in orbit, experts say, but it also has the ability to damage military reconnaissance and communications satellites.

During his comments yesterday, Mr. Ivanov set a precondition for discussions on reducing stockpiles of tactical nuclear weapons: the removal of U.S. nuclear arms from Europe.

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