Moscow expects Paris to support initiatives aimed at non-deployment of weapons in outer space, Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov said on Sunday, April 11, in an interview with TASC on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the first manned flight into space.
The diplomat noted that Russia and France generally share the need to ensure space activities in accordance with international law.
“This concerns the prevention of an arms race in outer space and the need to prevent its transformation into a new arena of confrontation <...> We count on the support of these initiatives by Paris,” he stressed.
On March 9, French military personnel for the first time in the history of the country’s armed forces began exercises in space. Michel Friedling, head of the French Space Forces command, said the exercise is “a stress test for systems.”
In February 2020, France joined the United Space Operations (CSpO) Cooperative Initiative. According to the country’s defense minister, Florence Parley, together with six allies, Paris is taking measures to strengthen and coordinate actions in space.
In December 2020, the United States announced that space was becoming a potential arena for hostilities between the United States and its adversaries, so Washington must be ready to repel aggression in space. At the same time, Moscow has repeatedly called the militarization of outer space inadmissible.