Speaking at a press conference on May 27, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the US is pursuing a "ckyard" approach to global stability through a plan to build a multi-layered defense network capable of intercepting long-range threats.
The system is expected to include in-person interceptors and leading attack options. The US Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost of the program could exceed 542 billion USD within the next 2 decades.
According to Zakharova, the Golden Apple plan "directly undermine the foundation of strategic stability," a view that China also shared. Responding to a question from the Chinese media, Ms. Zakharova emphasized that Russia and China expressed a common concern in a joint statement released on May 8.
The statement criticized the US for ignoring the long-standing link between strategic attack and defense forces - a principle that the two countries consider a key to maintaining global balance. Moscow and Beijing also opposed the US declaring space a " conflit area" and condemned the Golden Temple plan for escalating the space Militarization process.
Ms. Zakharova called on the US to reconsider its stance and support Russia's proposal for a treaty banning the deployment of weapons in space. She said such an agreement would help reduce the risk of an arms race beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
Earlier in the same day, North Korea also issued a similar warning, saying that countries that feel threatened by the US will be forced to increase their weapons stockpiles in response to the deployment of the Golden system.
Since 2002, when US President George W. Bush withdrew from the bilateral treaty with Russia on limiting the development of missile defense technology, tensions between the two countries over defense capabilities have continued to increase.
Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that Washington's decision has forced Moscow to develop advanced nuclear weapons capable of penetrating any shield system to maintain a strategic deterrent.
Last December, Mr. Putin said that US investment in missile defense "is not profitable for taxpayers but does not bring many security benefits".
