The White House publicly announced Friday that it was offering Moscow and Beijing the chance to discuss a limit on nuclear arms without preconditions.
Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, suggested an open dialogue between the U.S., China, and Russia on nuclear weapon stockpiling in a speech at the annual forum held by the Arms Control Association on June 1.
“[We’re] entering a new era — one that demands new strategies and solutions to achieve the goals we’ve always had,” Sullivan said, according to a news release.
The stated goals are to prevent an arms race, reduce the risk of escalation, and safeguard people around the world from nuclear threats.
Sullivan noted the importance of strategies focusing on both deterrence — such as maintaining a military advantage by investing in non-nuclear weapons technologies like hypersonic missiles and strengthening international alliance systems — and diplomacy to establish new arms control measures.
As The Dallas Express reported, in late February Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended the New START nuclear arms treaty forged between his country and the U.S. in 2010.
While no longer participating in the exchange of data the agreement had required, Moscow said that it would continue to observe the strategic warhead limit until February 2026 when the treaty ends, according to The Wall Street Journal.
According to Sullivan’s address, the U.S. aims to open discussions with Russia about forging a plan for measures to limit nuclear weapons after New START expires.
The two nations hold approximately 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads, according to Time Magazine. Yet the nuclear programs of other countries like North Korea, Iran, and China have increasingly entered the conversation these past few years.
It is for this reason that Sullivan’s address also opened nuclear arms talks to Beijing, which has yet to sign any kind of agreement to limit armament and has been rapidly building a nuclear arsenal.
U.S. relations with both Russia and China are at an ultimate low, making it difficult to imagine how inclined the leaders of either country would be to accept Sullivan’s invitation.
Putin has been steadfast in pointing to the “war-mongering” West — and the U.S. in particular — as justification for his continued invasion of Ukraine, as The Dallas Express covered.
Moreover, as The Dallas Express reported, the Chinese defense ministry refused an invitation to hold military discussions with Secretary of State Lloyd Austin late last month amid growing tensions in the South China Sea. A few days later, a Chinese fighter jet apparently performed a dangerous maneuver on a U.S. surveillance plane in international airspace in the region.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks