GENEVA, August 20. /TASS/. The US Golden Dome project for a national missile defense system provides not only for its declared defensive capabilities but also offensive ones, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva Gennady Gatilov said.

According to the diplomat, the project envisages "the development and deployment of space-based interceptors, the placement in space of systems for tracking ballistic-missile and hypersonic-weapon launches, as well as capabilities enabling missile attacks to be countered before launch and during their boost phase."

"In effect, this involves creating a powerful military capability in near-Earth orbit that, despite the program's declared defensive nature, also includes offensive strike capabilities," he said at a plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament.