US vows to respond if Russia attacks US civilian satellites

WASHINGTON

There will be a response to any attack by Russia on US civilian satellites, a senior Biden administration official said Thursday.

"I would just say that any attack on US infrastructure will be met with a response and that will be met with a response appropriate to the threat that's posed to our infrastructure," National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said at a news conference.

Kirby stressed that the war by Russia against Ukraine is "provocative" and "dangerous in the region right now."

"We're going to continue to support Ukraine. We've been very open and honest about that. Nothing's going to change about our approach to that," he added.

Kirby's remarks came one day after a Russian diplomat said commercial satellites used by the US to help Ukraine in the war are "legitimate" targets for attacks.

Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control, spoke at the first special session of the UN General Assembly on Disarmament.

Vorontsov said that helping through civilian satellites constitutes indirect participation in military conflicts and quasi-civilian infrastructure may become a legitimate target for retaliation.

Also, Maxar and Planet Labs earth observation satellites and Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet terminals have been critical to Ukraine’s battlefield successes against Russia, enabling the country’s military to rapidly communicate on the battlefield.