Russia said Thursday that claims by U.S. officials and the media that it was developing space-based nuclear weapons were a “trick” to get Congress to approve more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine requested by President Joe Biden, after as US officials have said. warned of a “serious threat” to the security of the United States, and the US press is reporting that it will be a Russian anti-satellite space weapon, while other US officials say Russia is not currently fielding any such weapons. , reported by DPA and Reuters, reported Agerpres.

“It is clear that the White House is trying to get Congress to pass a law providing money (to Ukraine) with all kinds of tricks and tricks,” said Dmytro Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He referred to a new package of US financial aid to Ukraine, which is blocked in Congress due to opposition from elected Republicans. President Joe Biden’s Democratic-majority U.S. Senate approved the more than $60 billion in aid, but the legislation also needs approval from the Republican-majority House of Representatives, which has split into two camps, for and against new aid to Ukraine.

Peskov added that he was waiting for evidence that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had been asked to present at a meeting with US congressional leaders on Thursday.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican Michael Turner, asked President Biden on Wednesday to declassify information about the threat to the United States so that political leaders and allies of the United States can openly discuss the topic.

The congressman did not say what the threat he was talking about would be, but some American media outlets, including the New York Times, ABC and Fox News, are reporting on the placement of Russian nuclear weapons in space that could be used as anti-satellite weapons.

• “Moscow wants to take nuclear weapons into space” – ABC / US official declares “serious threat to national security” attributed to Russia

The New York Times writes that Washington has already informed its allies in Europe about Russia’s space nuclear plans. Sources cited by this newspaper claim that Russia’s new military capabilities of this kind are currently under development and not yet deployed.

The United States does not have the capability to counter anti-satellite nuclear weapons, but that is not an immediate threat or cause for panic because Russia has not placed any such weapons in orbit, US officials told US media. , reports Reuters. .

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius asked for clarification. “As far as I know, these reports are very, very new, at least to me,” he said Thursday on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting, adding that the issue would be discussed by allies. “We must analyze. We need to clarify the technical issues and then see what the consequences will be,” explained the German minister.

A similar reaction came from his British colleague Grant Shepps. “I don’t comment on this story, but we know that adversaries will always look for new ways of waging war (…) Space is a great frontier, cybernetics is a great frontier. Therefore, we must control the situation and be ready,” the British minister said.

Russia has neither confirmed nor denied that it has or is developing anti-satellite nuclear weapons, and has criticized US reports of such weapons in the context of the conflict in Ukraine and opposition from the US Congress over aid to Kyiv.

• Read also: Is war in space possible? – What will happen if nuclear weapons are placed in Earth’s orbit?

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