Statement by the Deputy Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation, Deputy Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Konstantin Vorontsov at the Thematic Debate on Cluster III "Outer Space (Disarmament Aspects)" in the First Committee of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, New York, October 27, 2025
28 October 2025 20:45
1800-28-10-2025
Unofficial translation
Mr. Chairman,
The Russian Federation has been consistently and firmly calling for keeping outer space as the heritage of all humankind and its uses exclusively for peaceful purposes. As the author of a number of fundamental initiatives on the prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS), Russia invariably contributes to keeping outer space free from weapons of any kind and preventing it from becoming yet another area of tension and armed confrontation.
Over decades our principled stand has remained unchanged; the only way to achieve the goal of PAROS is through the development of generally recognized legally binding principles and norms of international law that would be comprehensive in nature and aimed at PAROS, as envisaged by the decisions of the First Special Session of the UNGA on Disarmament in 1978.
With regret and concern we have to state that these values are not shared by all UN Member States. We witness the growing risks of turning outer space into a springboard for aggression and war.
A number of Western countries openly pursue the course towards placing weapons in outer space and using outer space for combat operations to guarantee their dominance and superiority. They implement large-scale programs to develop weapon systems intended for the threat or use of force in, from or against outer space.
A vivid example - the US' efforts to expand its national anti-missile program within the project Golden Dome for America. It involves the comprehensive development of components of the global deeply layered and multi-domain missile defense system, including the orbital deployment of interceptors. The significant strengthening of potentials for combat operations in outer space within the Golden Dome, including the physical presence in the orbit of means of destruction, is aimed at securing the possibility of threat or use of force in, from or against outer space.
Such actions are putting at serious risk the long-term sustainability of peaceful outer space activities, can dramatically destabilize the situation and provoke an arms race in outer space. Turning outer space into arena of armed confrontation will consume enormous material resources, will undermine the prospects for arms reduction and will create insurmountable obstacles for international cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space.
We would like to highlight the extremely dangerous trend which became evident during the events in Ukraine. We are talking about use by NATO countries of satellite constellations, declared as civilian systems, including commercial ones, to assist foreign armed forces in combat operations as well as to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign countries. These actors do not realize that such activities actually constitute indirect participation in armed conflicts.
These acts of Western countries result in unjustified risks to the long-term sustainability of peaceful outer space activities, as well as to numerous socio-economic processes on Earth, on which depends the well-being of people, primarily in developing countries. Such provocative use of civilian satellites raises concerns in the context of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty which provides for the exclusively peaceful use of the orbit, and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms by the world community.
The Russian Federation is convinced that at the present stage it is still feasible to prevent a full-scale arms race in outer space; the point of no return has not yet been passed. To this end, we renew our call on UN Member States to reaffirm their commitment to existing international legally binding agreements governing outer space activities. At the national and international levels obligations should be undertaken not to place weapons of any kind in outer space (including in the low-Earth orbit and on celestial bodies) and the threat or use of force against and by means of outer space objects should be prohibited as well. It is important to establish a comprehensive ban on space strike weapons designed to destroy outer space objects.
We would like to recall our valid specific proposals:
- not to use outer space objects as means of destroying any targets on the ground, in the atmosphere or outer space;
- not to create, test or place weapons in outer space for any purpose, including for anti-missile defense, as anti-satellite means, for hitting targets on the ground or in the atmosphere, and to eliminate such systems if already possessed by States;
- not to develop, test, deploy and use space weapons, specially designed for anti-missile defense, as anti-satellite means, for hitting targets on the ground or in the atmosphere, and to eliminate such systems if already possessed by States;
- not to destroy, damage, disrupt the normal functioning or change the flight trajectory of other States' outer space objects without their consent;
- not to assist or incite other States, groups of States, international, intergovernmental, as well as any non-governmental organizations, including non-governmental legal entities established, registered or located on the territory under their jurisdiction and/or control, to participate in the above-mentioned activities.
Without reliable guarantees to keep outer space free of weapons, enshrined in an international legally binding instrument on PAROS, it is pointless to address issues related to the peaceful use of outer space and ensuring safety and security of outer space activities.
There is a basis for launching relevant negotiations: in 2008, the Russian Federation and China tabled a draft Treaty on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space and of the threat or use of force against outer space objects (PPWT) for consideration by the Conference on Disarmament. In 2014 the draft was updated and takes into account the comments and proposals made by a number of States.
Besides, the basic document for further practical measures and the mentioned international negotiations is the consensual report of the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) of 2024. On its basis it is necessary to continue work on substantive elements of a relevant international legally binding instrument, as envisaged by the GGE recommendations.
We are satisfied with the adoption by consensus of the agenda and the indicative timetable, as well as with the start of the substantive discussion within the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on PAROS, established by UNGA decision 79/512. It is necessary to ensure the Group's constructive and non- politicized work to achieve tangible results and contribute to the goal of PAROS. The approved organizational modalities of the OEWG allow it to focus on real consideration of substantive elements of an international legally binding instrument on PAROS taking into account the PPWT draft as well as the GGE report of 2024. This would guarantee the continuity of the discussion.
The mentioned modalities would allow parallel consideration in the OEWG of potential non-binding measures aimed at reaching the goal of PAROS. We are of the view that any such measures, including transparency and confidence-building measures in outer space (TCBMs), should directly or indirectly contribute to a complete ban of the placement of weapons in outer space, the threat or use of force against or by means of outer space objects, as well as complement but not replace effective legally binding PAROS agreements.
We note that this point on TCBMs was reiterated in the Recommendations to promote the practical implementation of TCBMs with the goal of PAROS adopted by consensus by the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) and included for the first time in the UN GGE final report of 2013 on TCBMs. We expect that the measures contained in these documents will be applied on a voluntary basis in national practices to the maximum possible and practically feasible extent and in accordance with the interests of UN Member States.
The international initiative/political commitment of No first placement of weapons in outer space (NFP) remains highly relevant in order to support the international peace, to ensure the equal and indivisible security for all, as well as to augment predictability and sustainability of States' outer space activities for peaceful purposes. The number of full-fledged participants in the NFP has reached 37. We call on all UN Member States to support efforts to universalize this initiative and to undertake this political commitment. We are grateful to those who have already joined the NFP. We view this self-restriction as an important step towards the conclusion of an international legally binding instrument containing guarantees against the placement of strike weapons systems into the near-Earth orbit.
Mr. Chairman,
The Russian Federation is hereby submitting draft UNGA resolutions "No First Placement of Weapons in Outer Space", "Transparency and Confidence- Building Measures in Outer Space Activities" and "Further Practical Steps on PAROS" for consideration by the First Committee. In preparing these documents, we took into account best practices in the field of PAROS, as well as the outcomes of various specialized multilateral formats. We are calling on all States to support our draft resolutions and cosponsor them.
Thank you.
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