China will not join the nuclear arms control talks between Russia and the United States , Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
"China has no intention of joining the so-called trilateral arms control talks with Russia and the United States. This position is both clear and consistent. The Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (known as the New START treaty) is the only remaining in force bilateral nuclear arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia. Its maintenance affects not only the strategic security of the two countries, but also global strategic stability," TASS cited the diplomat as saying.
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea said earlier that that "there are some areas of convergence between Russia and the United States, but we do remain far apart on a number of key issues."
The U.S. argues that any new nuclear arms limitation treaty should cover all types of warheads, include better verification protocols and transparency measures and be extended to include China, which has been increasing its own arsenal.
The operation of the treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States on the elimination of intermediate and shorter range missiles signed in Washington on December 8, 1987 was terminated on August 2, 2019 at the initiative of the American side.
