Jake Sullivan, a White House adviser, says the US executive is ready to discuss nuclear nonproliferation with Russia and China “without preconditions.”
The United States is willing to abide by the limits set by the New START nonproliferation agreement with Moscow on the number of nuclear warheads “as long as Russia does the same,” a White House adviser said.
Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to the US presidency, said that despite the tensions, the US executive is ready to discuss nuclear non-proliferation with Russia and China “without preconditions”, although he stressed that Beijing “has not shown the will” to do so to date.
Sullivan stressed that the administration led by President Joe Biden “stands ready” to talk to Russia without conditions about a future nuclear arms control framework, even as it takes action in response to the Kremlin’s decision to suspend the latest nuclear arms control treaty. nuclear weapons between the two countries. two countries.
In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that would suspend Russia’s cooperation with the provisions of the New START Treaty concerning inspections of nuclear warheads and missiles, at a time when tensions have escalated following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia then assured that would respect the limits of the nuclear weapons treaty.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Arms Control Association, Sullivan said the United States of America (US) is committed to joining the treaty if Russia does as well, and that Washington wants to open dialogue on a new framework. for nuclear risk. management when the treaty expires in February 2026.
“None of our countries are interested in opening up competition in strategic nuclear forces. And rather than wait to resolve all of our bilateral differences, the United States stands ready to engage Russia now to manage nuclear risks and develop a post-2026 deal,” Sullivan said.
The United States, the adviser continued, is willing to maintain warhead limits until the end of the treaty, acknowledging however that working out details of a post-2026 framework will be “complicated” due to US-Russian tension and by China’s growing nuclear power.
China currently has about 410 nuclear warheads, according to an annual survey by the Federation of American Scientists.
In November, the Pentagon (US Department of Defense) estimated that the number of warheads in China could rise to 1,000 by the end of the decade and to 1,500 by 2035.
The size of the Chinese arsenal and whether or not Beijing is willing to engage in substantive dialogue “will affect the future posture of force” of the United States and Washington’s ability to reach an agreement with the Russians, Biden administration sources said, quoted by the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
Relations between the United States and China have been strained by the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon this year after it crossed the continental United States.
On the other hand, there are also tensions over the status of the autonomous island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own, and over US export controls aimed at limiting China’s advanced semiconductor equipment, among other issues.
“In simple terms, we have yet to see China’s willingness to compartmentalize strategic stability of the broader issues of the relationship,” Sullivan said.
The White House pressure on Moscow over nuclear arms control comes a day after the Biden administration announced new measures in response to suspending Russia’s participation in the treaty.
The US State Department said it would stop notifying Russia of any updates on the status or location of “items that are subject to the treaty” such as missiles and launchers.
Separately, it added that it would revoke US visas granted to Russian treaty inspectors and aircrew members and stop providing telemetric information on intercontinental ballistic missile and submarine-launched ballistic missile launch tests.
At the beginning of this year, The United States and Russia stopped sharing semi-annual data on nuclear weapons required by the treaty.
The treaty, which then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitri Medvedev signed in 2010, limits each country to a maximum of 1,550 nuclear warheads and 700 missiles and bombers, and provides for on-site inspections to verify compliance.
Inspections have been inactive since 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic. Discussions on the reset were supposed to have taken place in November 2022, but Russia abruptly called them off, invoking US support for Ukraine.
Source: Observadora
