China has rejected entering into nuclear treaty talks after a US-Russia agreement expired limiting the amount of nuclear warheads the two powers could deploy.
The United States said it will not enter a new agreement without China after Beijing expressed "regret" when the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) ended on Thursday.
Campaigners have urged the powers to enter negotiations as they fear an absence of a renewed nuclear treaty could lead to another arms race.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, said: “The treaty is of great significance to maintaining global strategic stability.
TRENDING
Stories
Videos
Your Say
“The international community is widely concerned that its expiration will have a negative impact on the international arms control system and the global nuclear order.”
Russia has expressed both it and the United States should continue to follow the core restrictions of the New Start treaty.
Mr Jian called upon the US to “respond positively” and continue a “strategic” dialogue with Russia as soon as possible.
However, he said: “Beijing will not participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage.”
Russia has allegedly expressed they and the United States should continue adhering to the treaty
| REUTERSUkraine’s foreign ministry said the treaty’s expiry was a result of Russian efforts to achieve the “fragmentation of the global security architecture”.
“Putin now uses it as another tool for nuclear blackmail to undermine international support for Ukraine,” Ukraine's foreign ministry said.
The United States and Russia are reportedly initiating negotiations to extend the New Start treaty.
However, a draft plan still requires approval from both President Trump and Putin.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Russian officials and President Trump's envoys are reportedly entering talks on renewing the New START treaty
| GETTYNegotiations have been taking place over the last 24 hours in Abu Dhabi, with President Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, leading talks with Russian officials.
Russia and the United States own over 80 per cent of the world’s nuclear warheads with 5,000 each in their arsenal, according to data from Ican.
China comes in third, owning 600 nuclear warheads.
Coming into effect on February 5, 2011, the New Start treaty limited the number of strategic nuclear warheads each party could deploy (mating to a delivery system or being immediately available for combat use) to 1,550.
The treaty also restricted the number of deployed and non-deployed intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and other heavy bombers.
It allowed for satellite and remote monitoring to ensure the two parties were adhering to the limits, as well as 18 on-site inspections annually.
More From GB News