Avi Blizovsky
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Russian President Vladimir Putin called yesterday (Monday, 12/4) to support the demilitarization of space, but added that Russia is ready to respond to the steps of others.
In a speech to Russian space industry executives on Cosmonaut Day, marking the 43rd anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first manned flight, Putin also made a point of praising the Soviet Union's space glory and emphasized that space exploration remains a top priority for today's Russian government.
"I wanted you to know that the country's leadership understands very well that space exploration is one of our most important fields," Putin said.
Russia's space program, which serves as a source of pride received huge funding during the Soviet era, fell on hard times after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Putin thanked the senior space officials for maintaining the prestige of the industry despite the severe lack of cash during the past decade and emphasized the importance of space for national security.
"Space activities are so important for the country not only because they solve environmental and agricultural problems, but because they are important for the very existence of our country," he said.
Putin's speech also came after a successful test in February of what was described as a pioneering weapon that could evade missile defense systems like the one currently being developed by the US.
Putin and other senior officials in Russia said after the test that the development of a new weapon is not aimed at harming the US, but most commentators see it as a retaliatory measure against the US missile defense program.
For many years, space has been part of the military-political rivalry," Putin said on Monday. "Now we must do everything to spread the space and turn it into an arena of civil cooperation. However, he added that despite Russia's push to use space for peaceful purposes, it still remains and may remain the scene of an arms race. "We will strive to prevent space from becoming a military-political arena, but we must understand very well that this situation still exists now and it will continue to be so for quite some time," Putin said. "We will take it into account and will continue to take it into account in the future." Putin did not refer to a specific program or a specific country.
After years of angry protests, Russia reacted relatively calmly when the US withdrew in 2002 from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty to deploy missile defense systems across the US.
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