THE United States is holding talks with Russia and China on nuclear disarmament, President Donald Trump said on Oct 15, renewing calls to curb the world’s largest nuclear arsenals following the expiry of the New START treaty earlier this year.
“The whole thing is a shame, because I’d love to denuclearise if possible, but we’re actually talking to Russia about that, and we’re talking to China about that denuclearisation,” Reuters cited Trump telling Newsmax in an interview.
Trump also said he expected China to “catch up” with the United States within the next five years in terms of nuclear weapons capability.
Newsmax reported that Trump had discussed denuclearisation with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia has the largest stockpile of stored nuclear warheads, followed by the United States and China. The US, however, has more deployed warheads than Russia.
The comments come after the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), signed by the United States and Russia in 2010, expired earlier in 2026.
The treaty limited the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads and delivery systems held by the two countries. It was extended once, for five years, by former US president Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. - October 16, 2026