US puts China at center of future arms control efforts

SpaceWar.com reports: “A top White House official on Friday will make the case for putting rising nuclear power China at the center of future arms control efforts with Russia.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will deliver a speech at the annual National Arms Control Association meeting in Washington outlining the Biden administration’s attempt to navigate a rapidly shifting strategic nuclear landscape, senior officials said.

At the core of that puzzle is negotiating with China on its rapidly expanding arsenal and global presence, rather than solely focusing, as throughout the Cold War, on Moscow.

With the last US-Russia arms control treaty — New START — already moribund and due to expire in 2026, Sullivan will say that the United States is keen to forge a new treaty but that negotiating this won’t be possible without factoring in China.

‘We would be willing to live under limitations and participate in arms control, of course, post-2026, but a key variable in all of this is what… our engagement with China look like,’ one senior official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity…”

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