On Friday, Russia lashed out at a U.S. executive order signed by President Donald Trump toward a new missile defense shield, accusing Washington of attempting to upset the global nuclear balance and militarize outer space.
Earlier this week, Trump signed an order to develop an “American Iron Dome,” a state-of-the-art missile defense system with the express intention of countering ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, among other types of aerial threats. The White House framed this move as modernizing an archaic system to respond to an “evolving catastrophic threat” that adversaries are expanding their missile arsenals.
The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has lashed out at the plan as one which undermines the nuclear deterrence of both Russia and China. It was the harshest rebuke to date from Zakharova, and she warned this could imperil future nuclear arms control negotiations-the one area in which both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have expressed interest in talking.
Zakharova said, “This plan directly envisions a substantial strengthening of the American nuclear arsenal and capabilities for conducting combat operations in space, including developing and deploying space-based interception systems.” She further claimed that this reflects the U.S. intention to turn space into a battlefield and deploy weapons there.
“This U.S. approach will not contribute to de-escalation or to an improvement of the strategic situation, nor will it promote serious discussion of strategic offensive arms,” she added.
While the White House announcement on Iron Dome did not mention the growing U.S. nuclear arsenal, it did pronounce that the system would promote “the goals of peace through strength.” It was stated that since the Iron Dome would serve as the second-strike capability for the U.S., adversaries would be deterred from attacking the homeland.
Both Trump and Putin have expressed a desire to meet on various issues, including the ongoing war in Ukraine. But Moscow says it hasn’t received word from the U.S. on a time and venue for such a meeting.
