MOSCOW. July 24 (Interfax) - The accusations made by Washington and London against Russia of testing satellite weapons in space are aimed at discrediting Russian space activities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
"We see this new anti-Russian rhetoric as a part of a targeted information campaign initiated by Washington to discredit Russian space activities and our peaceful initiatives to prevent an arms race in space," a statement from the Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department published on the ministry's website said. "U.S. and British officials are again trying to present the situation in a distorted way to distract the attention of the international community from real threats in space, to justify the steps taken by them to place weapons in space, and to get extra funding for these purposes," the statement said.
The U.S. and the UK "naturally are not mentioning their own efforts in the sphere of military space, including the implementation of programs possibly involving 'inspector satellites' and 'repair satellites' as anti-satellite systems," it said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry noted precisely when these statements were made by London and Washington.
"The time selected for these comments, before the meeting between Russian and U.S. experts on space security in Vienna on July 27, also raises big questions. It's unclear what goal our U.S. colleagues are pursuing. We would like to hope that they aren't doing this to try to predetermine the tone and outcome of the meeting and complicate the establishment of bilateral dialogue on space issues and strategic stability, in general, which is of such importance for the entire international community," the statement said.
"We reaffirm Russia's commitment to its obligations on non-discriminatory use and exploration of space for peaceful purposes," it said.
"We are calling on our U.S. and British colleagues to show professionalism and sit down at the negotiating table and begin substantive work, rather than sham propaganda stories. We reaffirm our readiness to discuss all issues relating to space activities with representatives of the relevant agencies and organizations," the statement said.