UN Security Council rejects Russia-backed resolution on banning weapons in space

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States says that Russia last week launched a satellite that could be part of weaponizing space. That’s a possible future global trend that members of the United Nations Security Council condemn, even as they failed on Monday to pass a measure against it. The resolution drafted by Russia rivaled one backed by the U.S. and Japan that failed last month. The rival drafts focused on different types of weapons. The U.S. and Japan specified weapons of mass destruction. The Russian draft discussed all types of weapons. The U.S. and its allies say the language the council voted on Monday was meant to distract the world from Russia’s true intention: weaponizing space. Russia denies this.