NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated that Russia may be planning to deploy nuclear weapons in space – a move that would pose a major risk to security on Earth.
For the German Welt am Sonntag, Rutte warned that such an action would enable Russia to destroy hundreds of satellites with a single strike, seriously affecting global communication, navigation and security systems, Newsweek writes.
Rutte said that in response to new security challenges beyond the atmosphere, NATO allies were sharing intelligence, creating new national space commands and developing smaller, more maneuverable and more protected satellites.
No potential move would be in clear violation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty – an international agreement signed by the US and the former Soviet Union – which prohibits the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space.
At the moment, the Kremlin has not given any official comment regarding these claims.