MOSCOW, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Russia believes there is still time to prevent an arms race in space by drawing up a legally-binding international treaty to outlaw the deployment of offensive weapons there and called on the United States and other nations to set aside their scepticism about the idea, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday.
Ryabkov was commenting after the U.S. acknowledged this week that the Pentagon is operating weapons in Earth's orbit, a landmark moment in the militarisation of space. U.S. Space Force chief Douglas Schiess said that enlisted members of his military branch "operate on-orbit weapons that can defend the Joint Force against space-enabled attacks."
