Trump: US in denuclearisation talks with Russia, China — SkimNews
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- Donald Trump announced on Newsmax that the US is engaged in denuclearisation talks with Russia and China, saying he personally spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the subject and that the discussions have continued.
- Russia holds roughly 4,000 nuclear warheads and the US a similar number, together controlling an estimated 86% of the global stockpile, according to SIPRI, while China sits at about 620 warheads but is actively expanding.
- Trump predicted China would "catch up" to US and Russian levels within five years but acknowledged Beijing "doesn't seem willing to disarm," with no further details released about negotiations with either country.
- The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) — the last major bilateral US-Russia nuclear arms control pact — has expired, and Trump's denuclearisation talks announcement came shortly after that collapse.
- France's President Emmanuel Macron announced the Forward Deterrence Initiative a month after START lapsed, citing Russia's "nuclear sabre-rattling" during its war on Ukraine as Europe rushed to bolster its own deterrent.
- Former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans told Al Jazeera the world has become "alarmingly complacent" about nuclear war risks, warning that all major arms control agreements are now "dead, dying or on life support."
Why it matters: The talks arrive with every major US-Russia nuclear pact expired and France already building an independent European deterrent, leaving the global nuclear architecture essentially ungoverned. Trump himself conceded China won't disarm yet, meaning the negotiations are likely to produce little beyond rhetoric before Beijing's arsenal grows large enough to demand a seat at the table.
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