Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed concern about U.S. plans to create a separate space force, saying that taking weapons into space could trigger a new arms race.
President Donald Trump said Monday he is directing the Pentagon to create a new "Space Force" as a separate branch of the military aimed at ensuring American supremacy in space.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the move appears to signal Washington's intention to deploy weapons in space. She warned that the militarization of space "could be fraught with consequences no less harmful than the nuclear arms race."
Zakharova said that taking weapons to space would "upset strategic stability and international security." She noted that Russia and China have proposed an international treaty that would ban space-based weapons.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.