NEW YORK - United States intelligence shows that Russia is discussing the possibility of basing a nuclear weapon in space, according to people familiar with the matter, a finding that emerged after a top House Republican publicly warned of an unspecified national-security threat.
The threat cited by US intelligence is not yet an active one and Russia has not deployed a nuclear weapon into space, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. While the conclusions are significant and US officials are taking the matter seriously, there is no immediate cause for public alarm, said the people.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said he would meet Thursday with the US House contingent of the so-called Gang of Eight congressional leaders. The meeting was scheduled before House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner on Wednesday issued a cryptic public statement.
The Ohio Republican called on President Joe Biden to declassify "all information relating to this threat." Turner did not offer further details about the nature of the threat.
Turner's decision to go public with the issue, without fully describing it, caused concern in Washington. The episode comes at a time when wars in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza are weighing heavily on the US.
Sullivan declined to specify the subject of Thursday’s meeting or respond to Turner's characterisation of the national security matter. "I'm not in a position to say anything further today," he said.
ABC News and the New York Times reported earlier that Russia was considering putting a nuclear weapon in space.
A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on June 15, 2023. (Photo: Reuters)
House Speaker Mike Johnson sought to ease fears that Americans could face imminent danger. He nonetheless told reporters he would "press the administration to take appropriate action" in the meeting with Sullivan.
Sullivan told reporters at the White House Wednesday he had proactively reached out to the Gang of Eight to set a meeting — which he described a "highly unusual" move. The four House members of that group will meet Sullivan on Thursday, he said.
"That's been on the books, so I am a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today," Sullivan said at the White House. "That's his choice to do that. All I can tell you is I'm focused on going to see him."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he hoped more information on the classified matter would be made public soon. Turner said the committee had provided members with all available material.
The House Intelligence panel's top Democrat, Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, also urged calm. "People should not panic," he said, describing the matter as a longstanding, albeit serious issue.
Jeffries, speaking at the Capitol on Wednesday, said "it's possible" he will attend a meeting Thursday. "I've got some familiarity with the situation," he said.
Putin prefers 'more predictable' Biden over Trump
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast that he preferred Biden to former US president Donald Trump but was willing to work with any US president.
Putin was asked by interviewer Pavel Zarubin who was "better for us" out of Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican.
Putin replied without hesitation: "Biden. He is a more experienced, predictable person, a politician of the old school."
Smiling slightly, he added: "But we will work with any US president who the American people have confidence in."
An image comparing former US President Donald Trump and US President Joe Biden displayed during a Get Out The Vote rally with Trump at the North Charleston Convention Center in North Charleston, South Carolina, US, on Wednesday. (Photo: Bloomberg)
It was the first time Putin had publicly commented on the 2024 US election race in which Biden and Trump are expected to face each other for the second successive time.
At a time of high political uncertainty in the US, and with relations between the two countries at their lowest point for more than 60 years, his comments were more likely to be perceived as mischief-making than taken at face value.
Biden has led the Western response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) alliance, the imposition of successive waves of sanctions on Moscow and the provision of billions of dollars' worth of aid and weapons to Kyiv.
Based on Trump's reluctance to criticise Putin in his first term and his more recent comments - including a weekend interview where he said he would encourage Russia to attack Nato members that failed to spend enough on their own defence - his many critics believe he would give the Kremlin leader a much easier ride.
