The United States
government urged China on Tuesday to join trilateral nuclear arms talks with
Moscow, calling Beijing’s secrecy around growing stockpiles a “serious threat
to strategic stability”.
U.S. President Donald Trump
said last year he had discussed a new accord on limiting nuclear arms with
Russian President Vladimir Putin and hoped to extend that to China in what
would be a major deal between the globe’s top three atomic powers. But China
has so far refused to take part.
“We think, given the fact
that China’s nuclear stockpile is estimated to double over the next ten years,
now is the time to have that trilateral discussion,” Robert Wood, U.S.
disarmament ambassador, told reporters on the opening day of the U.N.-backed
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
He said that Washington had
discussed the potential trilateral talks in a security meeting with Russia last
week and had reached an “understanding” about pursuing them. “We cannot afford
to wait,” he added.
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