The White House on Thursday confirmed that the national security threat that US lawmakers had been talking about the day before is linked to Russia's development of anti-satellite weapons in space. US President Joe Biden has already ordered to establish contact with Moscow on this issue.
"This is due to the anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing. Firstly, this is not an active capability that has already been deployed. And while Russia's desire to develop this particular capability is a concern, there is no immediate threat to any security," John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator at the White House National Security Council, said at a briefing, BBC reports.
According to him, there are no weapons that can be used to attack people or objects on Earth, but Washington is closely monitoring Russia's activities and takes them very seriously.
He called the deployment of weapons in space a violation of international law and a treaty signed by more than 130 countries, including Russia.
"U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered a series of initial actions, including additional briefings to congressional leaders, direct diplomatic engagement with Russia, with our allies and partners, and with other countries around the world whose interests are at stake," Kirby added.
He also added that the White House did not give the green light to the release of intelligence on the threat from Russia.
"The intelligence community has serious concerns about the widespread declassification of this intelligence. They also believe that a much more effective approach would be to start with private engagement rather than immediate release of the intelligence," Kirby said.
Background. As a reminder, the Congress has announced a serious threat from Russia to the United States – nuclear weapons in space. According to the White House, the statement was made prematurely and was caused by uncertainty about assistance to Ukraine.