White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, February 15, 2024 in Washington (AFP / Jim WATSON)
Russia is developing an anti-satellite weapon, the White House said Thursday, saying it was a “worrying” element that did not, however, represent “an immediate threat.”
On Wednesday, the head of the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives sowed trouble in Washington by publicly inviting his peers in Congress to review “information relating to a serious threat to national security”, without further details.
American media assured that Russia intended to place a nuclear weapon in space against satellites.
Lifting the veil on this mysterious affair, the spokesperson for the National Security Council of the White House confirmed to journalists on Thursday that it was “linked to an anti-satellite capability developed by Russia”. However, he refused to specify whether it had a nuclear dimension or not.
It was not “deployed”, John Kirby clarified, adding: “While this activity by Russia is worrying, there is no immediate threat to anyone’s security.”
“We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause destruction on Earth,” Mr. Kirby said.
But it could threaten astronauts traveling in low Earth orbit or even damage military or civilian satellites, he said, assuring that the United States is “monitoring the situation closely” and will continue “to take it very seriously” .
President Joe Biden was informed of the threat and ordered officials to contact Moscow on the matter.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also went to Congress on Thursday to present a briefing to a group of eight elected officials with access to the most sensitive American intelligence.
Traveling to Tirana before going to the Munich Security Conference, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken clarified on Thursday that the United States was discussing this threat with its allies.
The 1967 Space Treaty, to which the United States and Russia are parties, prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons in space.
– “Critical situation” –
After the cryptic statement on Wednesday from the head of the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives, Mike Turner, which fueled speculation in Washington, Moscow described the information coming from the United States as “malicious” and “baseless”.
For the Kremlin, it is “obvious” that this is a maneuver by the American executive to force through an aid package for Ukraine, blocked for months in Congress.
Comments described Thursday as “bullshit” by John Kirby.
The disclosure of this information on Wednesday also angered the White House, with Mr. Kirby declaring that the executive would seek to determine whether the sources and methods of the American intelligence services had been compromised.
The US Senate, with a Democratic majority, approved on Tuesday a new package including $60 billion for Kiev, which is desperately demanding help from its Western allies in its war against Russia, but the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, refuses any vote on the project.
He aligns himself with the line of Donald Trump, who demands that tougher immigration legislation be approved before any new financial aid to Ukraine.
Another package on aid to Ukraine with funds for Israel and a section on immigration had been rejected earlier by the Senate, with conservative elected officials ensuring that it was not firm enough.
The latter also do not wish to offer a political victory to Joe Biden less than nine months before the November presidential election where Donald Trump will most likely meet the outgoing Democratic president for a revenge of the 2020 election.
Thursday at the White House, John Kirby stressed that the town of Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine, was at risk of falling into the hands of the Russian army, calling it a “critical situation”.
Ukrainian troops notably lack ammunition in the face of Moscow’s firepower.