The White House has confirmed that Russia has a “worrying” but “not yet operational” new anti-satellite weapon. international

Forty years after “Star Wars”, the alleged development of space weapons with which Ronald Reagan’s administration (1981–1989) aspired to impose excessive defense spending on Moscow and with it the Soviet Union’s bankrupt economy, Russia now has a The novel is “Anti-Satellite Weapon System.” The White House’s confirmation came a day after the House Intelligence Committee warned about a “serious national security threat.” The president’s office has tried to downplay the significance of the project, which was leaked at a time when Washington is deeply engaged in a debate over where it should direct its foreign policy: whether it should maintain a global perspective. Should or, as the former President believes, Donald Trump should turn to isolationism.

“The alert is related to a Russian anti-satellite weapons system,” White House spokesman for international affairs John Kirby confirmed at a press conference on Thursday. In which he did not indicate that the new weapon would be nuclear, as was raised by some American media. The senior official has tried to call for calm: While the Russian plans are “worrying,” he acknowledged — the system is “not active” and “poses no immediate threat to anyone’s security.” “We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack or cause physical destruction against human beings.”

“We take the threat very seriously,” the spokesperson said, assuring that United States President Joe Biden was immediately informed of the matter. The White House tenant has ordered a number of steps, including briefings with lawmakers in Congress and diplomatic contacts “with Russia and our allies and partners, as well as other countries.”

According to Kirby, the existence of Russian plans is something that US spy services have been keeping a close eye on for months, and several congressmen with expertise in the intelligence field were recently informed about it. The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, called a meeting this Thursday with the so-called “Group of Eight”, the highest-ranking legislators on intelligence matters in both houses, to address the project; Signaling rapid progress of Russian military technology on future war fronts: space, artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons.

As reported, the Russian project is a nuclear system that can destroy satellites of both the United States and its allies for civilian communications from space, espionage and surveillance, and military coordination and control. the new York Times, “At present, the United States does not have the capability to counter such a weapon and protect its satellites,” a former senior official told the newspaper.

The alert over the matter came on Wednesday, when the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican Representative Mike Turner, issued a secret statement in which he warned of a “serious threat to US national security” and asked that all information related to it will be made public, so that “the actions needed to respond to the threat can be openly addressed.” On Monday, the committee almost unanimously approved disclosing the data it holds to the rest of the lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Turner’s notice caused deep unease in the White House, where it was pointed out that making this information public would jeopardize very valuable intelligence sources. Sullivan, who appeared before the media on Wednesday to discuss another issue, aid to Ukraine, expressed surprise at the Republican move. He commented, “I am surprised that the committee has raised this issue publicly before meeting with me, along with those responsible in the Department of Defense and Intelligence.”

Turner justified his decision by assuring that the committee “worked in consultation with the White House to inform Congress about this national security threat” and that the White House agrees that this is a “serious” matter.

But his press release was issued at a particularly delicate moment in Congress and in United States foreign policy. After four months of negotiations, the Senate this week approved a bill that allocates $95 billion (88 billion euros) for national security, including $60.1 billion for Ukraine and $14,000 for Israel. The measure has now passed the House of Representatives, where its future is uncertain: the majority formed by the Democratic caucus and moderate Republican legislators supports aid to the invaded country. But a growing portion of the Republican bench rejects it, aligning themselves with the principles of Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in the November presidential elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has no intention of bringing the bill to the House floor for a vote.

The controversy over aid to Ukraine encapsulates a much broader debate, which began during Trump’s term and resolved in the early years of Joe Biden’s term: what is the role of the United States in the world and how to respond to the threat it poses. How to give to rivals like Russia, China or other authoritarian countries. The former Republican president, who pursued, or threatened to practice, an isolationist policy during his tenure, made it clear last weekend that there has been no change in his position. In statements that went around the world – and caused concern among NATO’s European partners – he expressed his willingness to let Russia do “whatever it wants” with members who spend 2% of their GDP on defense. % do not invest. He has also declared himself against all foreign aid that does not come in the form of loans.

In contrast, US President Joe Biden has described Trump’s statements as “stupid” and “dangerous”. The Democrat defends the United States’ global involvement as essential to the national security of the world’s leading economy. And part of that partnership includes maintaining economic and military assistance to Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression.

In this context, several Republican representatives have called on Johnson to launch an investigation into Turner’s decision to issue a public alert. Tennessee lawmaker Andy Ogles has accused his colleague of trying to block a reform to the intelligence services that the House of Representatives is working on. He said, “His actions, at least, represent an error in judgment and, at worst, a breach of trust due to the pursuit of political objectives.”

In Russia, Vladimir Putin’s government spoke in similar terms and attributed the warning to Washington’s interest in approving aid to Ukraine. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “It is clear that Washington is trying to force Congress to vote on the aid bill (for Kiev), no matter what.”

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