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The Biden administration is in talks with Russia and allied nations to try and prevent Moscow from positioning an anti-satellite nuclear weapon in space, a senior Pentagon space official said Friday.
American officials are using the United Nations and countries such as China and India to persuade Moscow to back down from its plans to test launch its space weapon. Those conversations have accelerated in recent weeks following the public disclosure of Russia’s space developments.
Talks ongoing: As of February, officials said that though they had reached out to Moscow to negotiate, they had not held substantial conversations with Russia about its intentions.
But John Plumb, the assistant secretary of Defense for space policy, told reporters Friday that Washington was in discussions with Russia about the weapon plans — an apparent confirmation that Moscow is at least engaging on the topic.
Plumb said that while there is “no immediate threat” to Earth posed by the deployment by Russia of nuclear anti-satellite weapons, “we are engaging with allies and partners and with Russia, to convince them that this is not responsible.”
He added that while he was hopeful these ongoing conversations were making progress, it was “unclear” if Russian President Vladimir Putin had been convinced, pointing out that Putin was “the ultimate decision-maker” on this.
Heightened concerns: Plumb’s comments came two months after House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) stirred up concerns across Washington, D.C. when he issued a statement warning of a “serious national security threat.”
The intelligence related to Moscow taking steps to put anti-satellite nuclear missiles in space, as POLITICO previously reported. Plumb told reporters that he did not have a heads up about that statement, and that it was a “bit of a surprise, especially because additional briefings” on the threat were scheduled for lawmakers.
The public airing of the threat also left U.S. officials concerned that talks with Moscow to dissuade them from putting these weapons in space had been jeopardized.
International cooperation: In terms of work with allies and partners, Plumb pointed to efforts at the United Nations by the U.S. to reaffirm the commitment to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bans the use of nuclear missiles in space. He noted that the U.S. is focused on enforcing “norms” in outer space, not new treaties.
National Security spokesperson John Kirby said this week that the U.S. had backed a resolution at the U.N. that would warn countries against putting nuclear weapons in orbit and said Washington is urging Russia to sign on.
Putin has said in recent days that he has “no intention” of launching a nuclear weapon into orbit unless Russia was directly threatened. American officials say there’s no indication that a Russian launch or test launch is imminent.
