Russia stands alone in vetoing UN decision on nuclear weapons in area

Enlarge / A gathering of the UN Safety Council on April 14. (credit score: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu through Getty Photos)

Russia vetoed a United Nations Safety Council decision Wednesday that will have reaffirmed an almost 50-year-old ban on putting weapons of mass destruction into orbit, two months after studies Russia has plans to do exactly that.

Russia’s vote towards the decision was no shock. As one of many 5 everlasting members of the Safety Council, Russia has veto energy over any decision that comes earlier than the physique. China abstained from the vote, and 13 different members of the Safety Council voted in favor of the decision.

If it handed, the decision would have affirmed a binding obligation in Article IV of the 1967 Outer House Treaty, which says nations are “to not place in orbit across the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or some other sorts of weapons of mass destruction.”