Russia says US plans for space force herald new arms race

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed concern about U.S. plans to create a separate space force, saying that taking weapons into space could trigger a new arms race.

President Donald Trump said Monday he is directing the Pentagon to create a new "Space Force" as a separate branch of the military aimed at ensuring American supremacy in space.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the move appears to signal Washington's intention to deploy weapons in space. She warned that the militarization of space "could be fraught with consequences no less harmful than the nuclear arms race."

Zakharova said that taking weapons to space would "upset strategic stability and international security." She noted that Russia and China have proposed an international treaty that would ban space-based weapons.