President Joe Biden told a reporter at the White House on Friday that Russia poses "no nuclear threat to the people of America."
Biden's comments came during a press conference responding to the death of Alexei Navalny, a longtime Russian opposition politician and Vladimir Putin critic who had been imprisoned since February 2021. Russia's Federal Penitentiary Services said Friday that Navalny felt unwell after a walk, "lost consciousness almost immediately" and died shortly afterward.
The Context
The White House confirmed on Thursday that Russia has the capability for an anti-satellite space-based weapon but it is not yet operational.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that "though Russia's pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety."
He added: "We're not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth.''
What We Know
During Friday's press conference, a reporter asked Biden, "How concerned are you about the anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing and what is your administration planning to do in response?"
"First of all, there is no nuclear threat to the people of America or anywhere else in the world with what Russia's doing at the moment," Biden responded.
"Number two, anything that they're doing or they will do relates to satellites in space and damaging those satellites potentially," the president continued. "Number three, there's no evidence that they have made a decision to go forward with doing anything in space either."
Biden went on: "So what we found out was there was a capacity to launch a system into space that could theoretically do something that was damaging. Hadn't happened yet, and my hope is that it will not."
Newsweek reached out to the National Security Council via email, as well as the Russian government via an online form, for comment.
The Views
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that U.S. claims about Russia's anti-satellite capability were just a ruse to get more military aid to Ukraine.
"It's obvious that Washington is trying to force Congress to vote on the aid bill by hook or by crook," Peskov said, according to Russian news agencies. "Let's see what ruse the White House will use."
Biden has urged the House of Representatives to take up a $95.34 billion foreign aid package that the Senate passed earlier this week. The package would include $61 billion for Ukraine.
What's Next?
Kirby said on Thursday that Russia's anti-satellite capability is still "developing," adding, "We are still analyzing the information that is available to that."
He also said that the U.S. response to this emerging capability will include direct diplomatic engagement with Moscow.
Update 2/16/24, 2:03 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
Update 2/16/24, 2:41 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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