Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is "categorically against" deploying nuclear weapons in space.
Putin said this during a meeting with Sergei Shoigu, the Minister of Defense of Russia, who also stated that he was not in favor of such a move, and their meeting was broadcast on Russian television.
US officials said last week that Russia was developing "problematic" anti-satellite weapons.
It is allegedly equipped with a nuclear warhead and is intended for use in space, according to US media reports.
The US government takes the development of this weapon "very seriously" and President Joseph Biden has already requested "direct diplomatic contact with Russia" on the matter, said John Kirby, the spokesman for the White House.
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Putin has repeatedly called for an international agreement on the use of weapons in space that would be respected by all countries, and said that Russia has repeatedly offered cooperation to jointly enforce the rules.
"Our position is clear and transparent. We have always been categorically against the deployment of nuclear weapons in space and we still are," the Russian president claimed.
Shoigu said that "first of all, Russia does not have nuclear weapons in space", and "secondly, they know that this is so, but despite this they are making noise about it".
He reiterated the position that such allegations from America serve to intimidate American congressmen and pass a law on additional aid for Ukraine.
A group of Republicans in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the US Congress, has been withholding support for a new $60 billion aid package for Ukraine for several months.
Kirby categorically rejected the allegations from Moscow.
Although Mike Turner, a senior official of the Republican Party and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, warned of a "serious threat to national security", Kirby said a day later that there was no immediate threat to the American public.
"We're not talking about weapons that can be used to attack people or cause physical destruction on Earth," Kirby said.
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Although space weapons seem like something out of science fiction novels, military experts have long warned that space is likely to become the new battlefield in an increasingly technology-driven world.
They also point out that Russia and China are dedicatedly developing their military capabilities in space, trying to catch up with America in terms of weapons.
These three countries already have the ability to attack satellites around the world. But, theoretically, they cannot use nuclear weapons in space.
All three countries signed the Outer Space Charter in 1967, which prohibits sending "any object carrying nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction" into orbit.
But experts warn that the charter does not provide a guarantee of security in the current geopolitical situation because Russia shows intentions to not comply with the obligations from this document.
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