Russia is alarmed by the creation of the Space Force

Russia has expressed alarm over President Donald Trump's pledge to maintain U.S. dominance in space and create a separate branch of the military called the "space force."

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova voiced Russia's concerns on June 20, 2018, a day after Trump said that "America will always be the first in space." He also said, "We don't want China and Russia and other countries leading us."

In his latest directive on space matters, Trump called for the Pentagon to create a new "space force" that would become the sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces — a proposal that requires congressional approval.

Zakharova said during a news briefing in Samara that Russia "noted the U.S. president's instructions...to separate space forces from the air force," saying, "The most alarming thing about this news is the aim of his instructions, namely to ensure [U.S.] domination in space."

Zakharova accused the United States of "nurturing plans to bring out weapons into space with the aim of possibly staging military action there."

She warned that if realized, such plans would have a "destabilizing effect on strategic stability and international security."

While Russia has a branch of the military called "space forces," their activities are "purely defensive," the spokeswoman insisted.

This article originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Follow @RFERL on Twitter.