Russia Ready to Hold Dialogue to Keep Space Free of Arms - Moscow

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday, saying that it was ready to hold a full-fledged dialogue with any country in order to keep space free of arms and to prevent an arms race.

"For the Russian Federation, the prevention of an arms race in space and its transformation into another sphere of armed confrontation remains a foreign policy priority. We are ready to conduct an equal dialogue with all states in order to keep space free of weapons of any kind as a condition for ensuring international peace and security," the ministry said.

Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that New Delhi had successfully tested its first indigenous ASAT missile, which had hit a defunct Indian satellite at an altitude of 300 kilometres (around 186 miles).

Thus, India has become the fourth country in the world after China, Russia and the United States to test an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile, sparking fears of experts that the move may lead to an arms race in the region as well as overall increased tensions in space.

Commenting on the ASAT missile test, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the day after the test that the move largely resulted from the deterioration of the situation in the arms control sphere.