US Urges Three-Way Nuclear Deal With Russia and China

Geneva (TDI): The United States on Friday called for new three-way negotiations with Russia and China to establish fresh limits on nuclear weapons, as Washington warned of growing global risks following the expiration of the last remaining US–Russia arms control treaty.

Speaking at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Thomas DiNanno said the New START treaty, which expired on Thursday, suffered from “fundamental flaws” and could no longer meet today’s security challenges. He argued that any future agreement must include China alongside the United States and Russia.

“Serial Russian violations, the expansion of nuclear stockpiles worldwide, and weaknesses in New START’s design and implementation give the United States a clear imperative to pursue a new arms control framework,” DiNanno said. “We need an architecture that addresses present-day threats, not those of a bygone era.”

New START had capped US and Russian deployments at 1,550 nuclear warheads each. Its expiration marks the first time in decades that there is no formal treaty limiting the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals, heightening concerns among analysts about the risk of a renewed arms race.

US President Donald Trump has rejected a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to extend the treaty’s restrictions, instead calling for a “new, improved and modernized” agreement. Trump has repeatedly said such a deal should also bring China into the arms control framework.

DiNanno said a bilateral arrangement between Washington and Moscow was no longer sufficient, pointing to US estimates that China could have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. He criticized Beijing for operating without transparency or binding limits on its nuclear forces.

“As we sit here today, China’s entire nuclear arsenal has no limits, no transparency, no declarations and no controls,” he said.