Why are the US and Japan pushing to ban nuclear weapons in space?

Washington and Tokyo sponsor a UNSC resolution calling on countries not to deploy or develop nuclear weapons in space.

The US and Japan on Monday proposed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on countries not to deploy or develop any kind of nuclear weapons in space.

The draft resolution did not directly name Russia, but the move comes days after a US intelligence assessment said Moscow’s antisatellite weapons posed a threat to US space capabilities. Washington fears space detonations could result in the disruption of US military satellite communications.

Last month, the administration of US President Joe Biden claimed that Moscow was creating an space weapon designed to target US satellites.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu have denied developing such a weapon. “We have always been categorically against and are now against the deployment of nuclear weapons in space,” Putin said last month.

“We are doing in space only what other countries have, including the United States.”