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UK Defence Secretary Stresses Need for Policy Review After Alleged Russian Space Arms Test

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has stressed the importance of the current comprehensive security review after the reports about the alleged anti-satellite weapon test by Russia.
Sputnik
"This week, we have been reminded of the threat Russia poses to our national security with the provocative test of a weapon-like projectile from a satellite threatening the peaceful use of space. Space, and our access to it, is fundamental to our way of life. But Russia is not alone. China too is developing offensive space weapons, and both nations are upgrading their capabilities right across the spectrum. Such behaviour only underlines the importance of the review the Government is currently conducting into our foreign, security, defence and development policy – the deepest and most radical since the end of the Cold War", Wallace warned, writing on The Telegraph website.

Earlier in the year, London launched a review of foreign, defence, security, and development policy to reconsider its aims and methods of reaching them.

On Thursday, the US Space Command said Russia had conducted a space-based anti-satellite weapon earlier in the month.

Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the claim, said that Washington only accuses Russia of conducting missile tests to justify its own plans to deploy weapons in space. Russia has repeatedly called on the United States to conclude an agreement to prevent the militarization of space, but Washington has rejected Moscow’s proposals.

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