Russia will vote against this document, Andrei Belousov assured
UN, November 1. /tass/. The draft British resolution on outer space at the UN suffers from serious shortcomings and does not take into account the fundamental Russian approaches. This was stated on Monday by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Office in Geneva, Andrei Belousov, speaking at the First Committee of the General Assembly of the World Organization.
"The draft resolution of the First Committee should not be about space security in its broad interpretation, but specifically about the prevention of an arms race in outer space," he said. "Russia supports the creation of open-ended working groups to discuss the most pressing issues on the disarmament agenda with an eye to developing consensus solutions."
"At the same time, we still have serious questions about the mandate of the proposed open-ended working group, which is only indirectly linked to the task of preventing an arms race in outer space," Belousov said. "It is linked through the possibility of considering recommendations for the application of possible norms and principles of responsible behavior in future legally binding agreements."
According to the diplomat, this is clearly not enough. "We still have other, no less fundamental questions both to the document and to its authors," he added.
"We have repeatedly brought them to our British colleagues. Given that the draft resolution suffers from serious shortcomings and does not take into account our principled approaches, the document in this form seems unacceptable to us. Russia will vote against it," Belousov said.
