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Wednesday, February 14, 2024
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Russia-Ukraine War

 * Photos
 * Ukraine Goes on Defense
 * E.U. Deal to Fund Ukraine
 * Ukraine’s Combat Medics
 * How Russia Silences Dissent

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U.S. HAS NEW INTELLIGENCE ABOUT RUSSIA’S NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES

A congressman’s cryptic statement about the development set Washington abuzz
about what the intelligence was and infuriated White House officials.

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The war in Ukraine has pitted the United States and its allies against President
Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.Credit...Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik, via Reuters


By Julian E. Barnes, Karoun Demirjian, Eric Schmitt and David E. Sanger

Julian E. Barnes, Karoun Demirjian and Eric Schmitt reported from Washington,
and David E. Sanger from Berlin.

Feb. 14, 2024, 4:45 p.m. ET
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The United States has informed Congress and its allies in Europe of new
intelligence about Russian nuclear capabilities that could pose an international
threat, according to officials briefed on the matter.

Officials said that the new intelligence was serious — but that the capability
was still under development, and Russia had not deployed it. Consequently, it
did not pose an urgent threat to the United States, Ukraine or America’s
European allies, they said. The information is highly classified, and officials
said it could not be declassified without cutting off its source.

A current and a former U.S. official said the new intelligence was related to
Russia’s attempts to develop a space-based antisatellite nuclear weapon. ABC
News reported earlier that the intelligence had to do with such a capability.
Current and former officials said the nuclear weapon was not in orbit.

The threat came to light after Representative Michael R. Turner, Republican of
Ohio and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a cryptic
statement calling on the Biden administration to declassify the material. Mr.
Turner’s statement, and his decision to share the information with others in
Congress, set Washington abuzz about what the intelligence was.



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But the statement infuriated White House officials, who feared the loss of
important sources of information on Russia. While Mr. Turner has been an ally to
the White House on Ukraine aid, his remarks on Wednesday became the latest
flashpoint in strained relations between the Biden administration and
congressional Republicans.

The intelligence was developed in recent days, and while it is important,
officials said it was not a break-the-glass kind of warning of any imminent
threat. But Mr. Turner urged its release.

“I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to
this threat so that Congress, the administration and our allies can openly
discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat,” Mr. Turner said.


Image

Representative Michael R. Turner, Republican of Ohio, right, issued a cryptic
statement calling on the Biden administration to declassify the
material.Credit...Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images


His committee took the unorthodox move of voting on Monday to make the
information available to all members of Congress — a step that alarmed some
officials, as it is not clear in what context, if any, the intelligence in the
panel’s possession was presented. In a note to lawmakers, the House Intelligence
Committee said the intelligence was about a “destabilizing foreign military
capability.”



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Capitol Hill is mired in a bitter political standoff over whether the United
States should be mobilizing resources to counter Russian threats to Ukraine, a
cause that most Democrats and some Republicans — including Mr. Turner — have
argued is essential to protecting U.S. national security interests. But a
majority of Republican members of the House, including Speaker Mike Johnson,
reject calls to put a Senate-passed foreign aid package with $60.1 billion for
Ukraine to a vote on the House floor.



Former President Donald J. Trump has egged on Republican opposition, saying this
weekend that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to
any NATO country that had not spent enough money on its own defense.

Other officials said Mr. Turner was making more of the new intelligence than
would ordinarily have been expected, perhaps to create pressure to prod the
House to take up the supplemental funding request for Ukraine that the Senate
passed this week.

That measure, providing military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, faces an
uncertain prospect in the House. While many Republicans oppose additional
funding, Mr. Turner is an outspoken advocate of more assistance to Ukraine and
recently visited Kyiv, the capital.

Shortly after Mr. Turner’s announcement, Jake Sullivan, the national security
adviser, entered the White House press room to discuss the importance of
continued funding for Ukraine’s military.



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But Mr. Sullivan declined to address a reporter’s question about the substance
of Mr. Turner’s announcement, saying only that he was set to meet with the
chairman on Thursday.

“We scheduled a briefing for the House members of the Gang of Eight tomorrow,”
Mr. Sullivan said, referring to a group of congressional leaders from both
parties. “That’s been on the books. So I am a bit surprised that Congressman
Turner came out publicly today in advance of a meeting on the books for me to go
sit with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow.”

Representative Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut and the ranking member of the
House Intelligence Committee, said the issue was “serious” and Mr. Turner was
right to focus on it. But he added that the threat was “not going to ruin your
Thursday.”

Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, and Senator Marco Rubio, Republican
of Florida, said in a joint statement that the Senate Intelligence Committee had
been tracking the issue from the start and had been discussing a response with
the Biden administration. But the lawmakers said releasing information about the
intelligence could expose the methods of collection.


Image

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, declined to address a reporter’s
question about the substance of Mr. Turner’s announcement.Credit...Tom Brenner
for The New York Times


At the White House, when Mr. Sullivan was asked whether he could tell Americans
that there was nothing to worry about, he replied that it was “impossible to
answer with a straight ‘yes.’”



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“Americans understand that there are a range of threats and challenges in the
world that we’re dealing with every single day, and those threats and challenges
range from terrorism to state actors,” Mr. Sullivan said. “And we have to
contend with them, and we have to contend with them in a way where we ensure the
ultimate security of the American people. I am confident that President Biden,
in the decisions that he is taking, is going to ensure the security of the
American people going forward.”

Mr. Turner declined to respond to questions on Wednesday. Jason Crow, Democrat
of Colorado, said the new intelligence was one of several “volatile threats”
facing the United States.

“This is something that requires our attention,” Mr. Crow said. “There’s no
doubt. It’s not an immediate crisis, but certainly something that we have to be
very serious about.”

Mr. Johnson, apparently trying to spread calm after Mr. Turner’s announcement,
said there was “no need for public alarm.”

“We are going to work together to address this matter,” Mr. Johnson said.

Erica L. Green, Luke Broadwater and Glenn Thrush contributed reporting from
Washington.



Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international
security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more
than two decades. More about Julian E. Barnes

Karoun Demirjian covers Congress with a focus on defense, foreign policy,
intelligence, immigration, and trade and technology. More about Karoun Demirjian

Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times, focusing on
U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism issues overseas, topics he has
reported on for more than three decades. More about Eric Schmitt

David E. Sanger covers the Biden administration and national security. He has
been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written several books
on challenges to American national security. More about David E. Sanger

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