White House briefs lawmakers after Russian nuclear space report

U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security chief will brief top lawmakers on Thursday after they warned of a “serious” threat posed by Russia’s reported attempts to build a space-based nuclear capability.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will hold a closed-door meeting with congressional leaders as U.S. media say Russia is developing a weapon that could destroy Western satellites.

Moscow has denied the “malicious” and “baseless” reports, calling them a White House ploy to try to pass a multibillion-dollar Ukraine war aid package stalled in Congress.

Washington has been shrouded in secrecy and concern since House Intelligence Committee Chairman Michael Turner suddenly issued a cryptic statement on Wednesday referencing a “serious national security threat.”

The Republican asked Biden to declassify all information about unidentified threats so that the United States and its allies can “discuss publicly the actions needed to respond.”

U.S. media later reported that Russia was advancing plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space that could target satellites.

U.S. officials said the threat described did not involve active capabilities or capabilities that could target humans, but added that it was significant.

They also pointed to comments by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that there was “no need to cause public alarm.”

But the sudden announcement angered Sullivan at the White House, who expressed disappointment that Turner went public with the news before a briefing scheduled for Thursday.

Sullivan said he would meet with the leaders of the “Gang of Eight” party and four House members who are members of the senior intelligence committee.

He declined to confirm that he would discuss the security threat but noted its importance, saying it was “in fact, very unusual” for the national security adviser to have such “personal” contact with House members as he did.

Skill

Democrat Joe Biden and the Republican-led House of Representatives are deadlocked over the White House’s request for $60 billion in military aid to help Ukraine fend off a Russian invasion entering its third year.

Johnson has repeatedly warned that he will not address the security concerns of allies until the U.S. immigration system is strengthened, but he has refused to bring the Senate-passed bill to a vote.

Moscow dismissed the warning as a U.S. attempt to discredit Russia and promote funding for Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the White House was “making every effort to get Congress to vote on the appropriations bill,” state-run TASS news agency reported.

“Obviously. Let’s see what tricks the White House will pull, so to speak.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who is involved in Russia’s nuclear policy, said the United States was “fantasizing” and should provide evidence for its claims.

“If they make any claims, they should be accompanied by evidence,” he added, Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency on Thursday.

The West has accused Russia of reckless nuclear rhetoric after President Vladimir Putin said he was prepared to use nuclear weapons if he felt threatened.

Russia and the United States are both parties to the Outer Space Treaty, which bans the deployment of nuclear weapons in space.

Meanwhile, Putin said he would prefer a “predictable” Joe Biden to Donald Trump in November’s US presidential election.