White House Confirms That Threat To National Security Relates To Russia's Space Weapons

Biden has ordered to hold talks.

The White House has confirmed that the "serious threat to national security" to the US, which members of Congress were previously warned about, is linked to Russia's actions in space.

White House spokesman John Kirby said during a briefing on Thursday, February 15, that he could not fully disclose the nature of the threat, but could confirm that it is related to "anti-satellite tools" that Russia is developing.

Kirby clarified that it is not a question of already deployed and operational facilities and they do not pose a threat to anyone's security right now. He also stressed that these are not weapons that can be used to attack people. He said President Joe Biden has already ordered to hold "direct diplomatic contacts" with Russia and allies on the matter.

On February 14, Republican Mike Turner, who chairs the US House Intelligence Committee, said there were intelligence reports of a "serious threat to the national security" of the US. Without specifying the nature of this data, Turner said that the committee reporting to him had decided to share the information with all members of the US Congress, and called on Joe Biden to declassify the intelligence information so that "Congress, the [US presidential] administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat."

US media have revealed that the data in question is about Russia's progress in developing a new space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon that could threaten the US satellite network.

Three U.S. officials told CNN on condition of anonymity that the Russian system is still in development and has not been deployed into orbit.