Officials say ‘space-based’ weapon under development but not yet deployed is not immediate threat to anyone’s safety

The White House has confirmed that it is monitoring a new Russian anti-satellite weapon which it said is being developed but not yet deployed, calling it “troubling” but not an immediate threat to anyone’s safety.

The national security spokesperson, John Kirby, would not directly confirm or deny reports that the new Russian weapon was nuclear, but he did say it was “space-based” and that it violated the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits the deployment in space of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.

Kirby was briefing reporters at the White House amid a wave of speculation following cryptic comments about the new threat by the Republican chair of the House intelligence committee, Mike Turner.