Used to be:
A top White House official will argue Friday for putting nascent nuclear power China at the center of future arms control efforts with Russia.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will deliver a speech at the National Arms Control Association’s annual meeting in Washington, outlining the Biden administration’s attempt to navigate a rapidly changing strategic nuclear landscape, senior officials said.
At the heart of that puzzle is negotiating with China its rapidly expanding arsenal and global presence, rather than focusing solely on Moscow as it did throughout the Cold War.
With the last arms control treaty between the US and Russia – New START – already dying and due to expire in 2026, Sullivan will say the United States would like to forge a new treaty, but that negotiating it will not be possible without consideration of China.
“We would be willing to live under restrictions and of course participate in arms control after 2026, but an important variable in all of this is what… our involvement with China looks like,” a senior official told reporters. on condition of anonymity.
The Biden administration needs to understand China’s willingness to engage in some kind of more substantive dialogue with us, because the size of their arsenal, the shape of their fighting forces and any shift in their policies will affect our own attitude of the armed forces in the future. staff.
That “will, of course, affect our ability to come to some sort of deal with the Russians” — a reality that will have ripple effects through the other recognized nuclear powers, Britain and France.
With relations with President Vladimir Putin’s Russia at an all-time low and currently near a standstill with Beijing, there is a tough road ahead.
“We haven’t been able to get this substantive engagement on strategic issues or nuclear issues that we wanted,” an official said of outreach to China. “I think we hope there is more interest in diplomacy to stabilize the relationship now.”
In February of this year, Putin announced that Russia was suspending participation in New START, a Cold War-era treaty that limits nuclear warheads and allows for verification by both sides.
The State Department said Thursday it has taken mutual “countermeasures” by suspending several aspects of the treaty, including on-site inspections and data sharing.
Another area Sullivan will address in his speech, officials said, is “efforts to build standards, traffic regulations and responsible behavior” in AI, aerospace and other high-tech areas.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)