US accuses Russia's COSMOS 2612 of threatening behaviour in space

US says Russian military satellite exhibiting "threatening behavior" near its "commercial" satellite

Washington DC, October 22

In a post on X, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Thomas G DiNanno said, "As just announced in the @UN First Committee, Russia's COSMOS 2612 military satellite has been exhibiting threatening behavior by intentionally maneuvering dangerously close to a commercial satellite, behaviors consistent with on-orbit weapons operations."

As per a Fox News report, Russian satellite Cosmos 2612 came within 100 feet of a US-Finnish radar satellite providing critical intelligence to Ukraine.

Trump administration's official said this violates "long-established safety thresholds in low Earth orbit."

"The United States will continue to secure and defend American vital national security interests in, from, and to space," he added.

Tracking firms confirmed the close-proximity loitering was highly unusual, fueling concerns from U.S. Space Command over potential anti-satellite weapons and threats to Western security assets. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force recently confirmed that America also has its own defensive space control weapons operating in orbit, Fox News reported.

The development comes amid United States special envoy Steve Witkoff engaged in high-stakes talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in St. Petersburg.

The aim of the meeting was to advance proposals to end the war in Ukraine and establish a pathway towards broader negotiations. As reported by CNN, the diplomatic outreach came on the heels of Witkoff's Tuesday summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway, following which video footage captured the US envoy confirming that reviewing the outcomes of that "productive" Oslo summit remained central to the agenda.

— ANI