US calls for maintaining limits on Russia's nuclear weapons, with an eye on China

Sullivan made the comments in a speech at the National Arms Control Association's annual meeting in Washington as he described the Biden administration's attempt to address what he called "substantial" and "deep" cracks in the post-Cold War nuclear crisis.

With the last U.S.-Russian arms control treaty, New START, coming to an end in 2026, Sullivan said the U.S. is eager to forge a new treaty.

Meanwhile, Washington wants the world's two largest nuclear powers to comply with the core of the treaty: a limit for both of 1.550 warheads.

“We are prepared to maintain basic limits as long as Russia does the same,” Sullivan said.

He also called on Moscow to begin new negotiations for a post-2026 framework. He added: “Rather than wait to resolve all our bilateral differences, the United States is willing to engage Russia now to manage nuclear risks.”

Unlike the Cold War, when there were just two global nuclear powers, the future of arms control now revolves around China's rapidly expanding arsenal and global presence, Sullivan said.

“By 2035, (China) is on track to have up to 1.500 nuclear warheads, one of the largest peacetime nuclear developments in history,” Sullivan said, meaning “the United States will have to deter two nearby nuclear powers for the first time in its history.”

“We are also ready topromehave with China without preconditions,” he said.

A senior US official told reporters that the “China factor” implies not only the need for Washington to deal directly with the threat, but also to consider the ripple effects created for nuclear allies the United States, the United Kingdom and France, whose arsenals are smaller and largely aimed at combating Russia.

The agreements with China “will of course affect our ability to reach some kind of agreement with the Russians,” the official said.

Read also

Pix is ​​the main payment method for individual microentrepreneurs

The third edition of the Pulso dos Pequenos Negócios survey, carried out by the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) and IBGE, shows that 52% of individual microentrepreneurs (MEI) considered payment via Pix as the main means of receiving their earnings. The credit card occupies second place in preference, being the most used method by 20% of microentrepreneurs. Cash notes come in third, with 12%.

* The text of this article was partially generated by artificial intelligence tools, state-of-the-art language models that assist in the preparation, review, translation and summarization of texts. Text entries were created by the Curto News and responses from AI tools were used to improve the final content.
It is important to highlight that AI tools are just tools, and the final responsibility for the published content lies with the Curto News. By using these tools responsibly and ethically, our objective is to expand communication possibilities and democratize access to quality information. 🤖