USA Negotiate with Russia and China on New Nuclear Arms Control Treaty

A rare meeting of nuclear powers took place in Geneva, aiming to outline the framework for a new global security architecture. The American delegation, led by Christopher Yeaw, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, met with Russian representatives on Monday, with talks scheduled for Tuesday with diplomats from China. This is the first serious attempt to draw Beijing into an arms control regime, something Chinese authorities have consistently rejected so far, arguing that their arsenal is incomparably smaller than those of the US and Russia. The diplomatic situation is tense due to the expiration in early February of the New START treaty. The administration of Donald Trump decided not to extend it, pushing instead for a vision of a trilateral agreement. During an address to the UN Conference on Disarmament, Christopher Yeaw presented declassified data on Chinese underground tests at the Lop Nur facility, which allegedly violated international standards. According to US intelligence estimates, China could achieve nuclear parity with the US within the next few years. Since the end of the Cold War, the arms control system has been based primarily on bilateral agreements between Washington and Moscow, such as the 1987 INF Treaty and successive versions of the START treaties. Beijing officially denies allegations of conducting secret tests and claims its policy is based on a defensive strategy and the principle of no-first-use of nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, American analysts point to a dynamic increase in the number of launchers and the modernization of Chinese deterrence forces. Security experts fear that the lack of a new agreement could lead to an uncontrolled arms race, in which proliferation of missile technology will become a threat to global stability. „China has deliberately and without constraint developed massively its nuclear arsenal, without transparency or indication as to its intentions or its objectives.” — Christopher Yeaw Estimated Number of Nuclear Warheads (2026): Russia: 5500, USA: 5200, China: 600 The current diplomatic efforts in Geneva are seen as an attempt to avoid a legal vacuum following the collapse of previous treaties. The success of the talks depends on whether Washington can find arguments that will persuade Beijing to abandon its previous isolation on arms issues.