Interstellar disarmament: how Russia is trying to convince France to abandon the militarization of space

Russia expects France to support initiatives aimed at preventing the deployment of weapons in space.

This was stated by the Russian ambassador to the republic Alexei Meshkov.

According to him, Moscow and Paris "generally share the need to ensure the safety of space activities and their implementation in accordance with international law."

“This concerns the prevention of an arms race in outer space and the need to prevent it from becoming a new arena of confrontation,” the TASS agency quoted the diplomat as saying.

Alexey Meshkov also recalled that Russia consistently calls on its foreign partners, including France, to support its initiatives.

“Among them is the launch of negotiations on a treaty on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space.

This also applies to commitments on the non-use of force or the threat of force in relation to space objects, the agreement on confidence-building measures in outer space.

It is also important to make global political commitments not to be the first to place weapons in space.

We count on the support of these initiatives by Paris, ”the diplomat said.

Space defense

Experts note that France has the status of a space power, since it has the ability to independently launch various carriers into orbit, and such large aerospace companies as Airbus and Arianеspace operate on its territory.

In addition, Paris controls the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana - it is located closer to the equator than similar facilities of any other space power, making it the optimal place for launching satellites into geostationary orbit.

At the same time, in 2017, France, together with the United States, Great Britain, Israel and Ukraine, voted against the UN draft resolution on preventing an arms race in outer space.

In September 2018, French Defense Minister Florence Parly announced the inadmissibility of the country's lagging behind in the field of space technologies.

• French Defense Minister Florence Parley and Emmanuel Macron

• © REUTERS / Gonzalo Fuentes

According to her, other space powers are engaged in the militarization of space, putting potentially dangerous objects into orbit, which leaves no doubt about their aggressive intentions.

In this context, Parley especially singled out Russia, unprovenly accusing it of attempting to intercept data from a Franco-Italian satellite.

At the same time, already in 2019, the BFM television company announced that France itself was developing an anti-satellite laser.

In July of the same year, President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron announced that he intended to create a new space command within the French Air Force.

“We will have a deeper knowledge of the situation in space, we will better protect our satellites, including in an active way.

And in order to bring this doctrine to life, to ensure the development and expansion of our space capabilities, a large space command will be created within the Air Force in September, "Macron said at the time.

Shortly thereafter, Florence Parley presented a new National Defense Space Strategy.

The head of the defense department of the Fifth Republic also announced that the country will organize active defense in space, and is considering the possibility of influencing the satellites of opponents.

For these purposes, she said, the already mentioned powerful lasers will be used.

In addition, Parley announced that France will expand funding for military space programs as part of budget planning for 2019-2025: in addition to the initially announced investments of € 3.6 billion, the country's authorities decided to allocate an additional € 700 million for the development of this area.

The French Air Force Space Command began operations in September 2019.

Parley said it had 220 staff.

Containment mechanism

Commenting on France's new defense space strategy, in August 2019, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that it raises "serious questions" from Moscow.

“Even at the first reading of the strategy, serious questions arise about some of its provisions, which the Russian side intends to address to its French partners.

In the preliminary plan, we consider it necessary to note the following.

France became the second (after the United States) state to officially recognize the possibility of an armed conflict in outer space.

At the same time, in response to "unfriendly" or "hostile" actions against French space objects, countermeasures are not ruled out, including, as we understand, of a forceful nature, "the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Foreign Ministry also stressed that against this background, the sharp change in France's approaches to Russian proposals to prevent an arms race in outer space is becoming "very indicative".

Russian diplomats recalled that in 2018 Paris refused to support the UN General Assembly resolution calling for dialogue on the issue of non-placement of weapons in outer space, and refused to join Russia's international initiative on non-placement of weapons in outer space by the first (NPOK).

In addition, as the Foreign Ministry reminds, the representatives of France at the international conference on disarmament in Geneva rejected the Russian-Chinese draft treaty banning the withdrawal of weapons into outer space.

Earlier, as stressed in the Russian diplomatic department, on the contrary, on this issue between Moscow and Paris there was constructive cooperation and mutual understanding.

Let us recall that in recent years Russia has repeatedly warned Western countries against turning outer space into a militarized zone and a theater of military operations.

In December 2019, the UN General Assembly adopted by a majority vote three resolutions on disarmament in outer space proposed by Russia.

Speaking at a thematic conference in February 2020, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow calls on Western countries to develop measures that would prevent such a scenario.

The Russian diplomat then noted that while "the plans of the United States, France, and the North Atlantic Alliance as a whole, on the withdrawal of weapons into space, are acquiring more and more real outlines, it is not too late to work out generally acceptable measures that can prevent a military confrontation in outer space."

Military expert Yuri Knutov, in an interview with RT, noted that, trying to enlist the support of Paris, Moscow continues its course to defend the concept of inadmissibility of withdrawing weapons into extraterrestrial space.

“Russia understands that if France, which is a nuclear power, supports its initiative, there will be a real prospect of convincing the global community and thus keeping outer space peaceful.

Moscow is aware of the need to create a mechanism that would prevent the placement of weapons in space, so that it does not turn into an arena of hostilities.

That is why Russia is trying to find a compromise, to come to an agreement with France, ”Knutov says.

He also recalled that now France has optical and electronic reconnaissance satellites, but it does not yet have combat satellites.

“The country has taken such a course because of the ambitions of Macron, who wants France to be the No. 1 power in the EU, to have its own space forces, to deploy military satellites in space,” the military expert explained.

In turn, the editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenkov, RT comments, also positively assessed Russia's initiatives.

At the same time, he expressed the opinion that the space policy of the Western countries in practice will be built, guided by the US plans in this area.

Despite the mechanism proposed by Russia and China in the UN Security Council to prevent the deployment of weapons in space, the United States and its Western allies blocked this initiative, he recalled.