Jake Sullivan on Navalny death, Russia anti-satellite capability and Ukraine aid

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, pictured at a White House briefing on Wednesday, spoke to Morning Edition about Russia’s anti-satellite capability, U.S. aid to Ukraine and reports of the death of Alexei Navalny.

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It’s been a busy week for news involving the U.S., Ukraine and Russia.

It started with the Senate passing a bill that would send billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine, as well as Israel and Taiwan, despite warnings from House Republicans that they would not bring such legislation to their own floor.

Then an unusual statement from the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee about a national security threat prompted the Biden administration to confirm that Russia is working on a weapon that has the potential to threaten satellites.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with a group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Thursday to brief them on the issue. Moments before he dialed in to speak with NPR’s Morning Edition about it on Friday, reports emerged from Russian authorities that opposition figure Alexei Navalny had died in prison after falling ill.

Sullivan told Morning Edition‘s Steve Inskeep that the U.S. — as well as Navalny’s family — is actively seeking confirmation of the reports, and will determine next steps from there.

“If it’s confirmed, it is a terrible tragedy,” he added. “And given the Russian government’s long and sordid history of doing harm to its opponents, it raises real and obvious questions about what happened here.”

Sullivan spoke with Inskeep about Russia’s anti-satellite weapon, the continued need for U.S. aid…