CHINA REJECTS NUCLEAR TALKS AS U.S.–RUSSIA ARMS TREATY EXPIRES

China has ruled out joining negotiations for a new nuclear arms control agreement following the expiration of the New START treaty between the United States and Russia, despite mounting global fears of a renewed nuclear arms race.

The treaty, which for decades imposed limits on the number of strategic nuclear warheads deployed by Washington and Moscow, officially lapsed on Thursday, removing the last binding restrictions on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.

International campaigners and global leaders have warned that the collapse of the agreement comes at a dangerous moment.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres described the development as a “grave moment,” warning that the risk of nuclear weapon use is now the highest it has been in decades.

“This dissolution of decades of achievement could not come at a worse time,” Guterres said, citing Russia’s early-war suggestions of using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Beijing regrets the treaty’s expiration but will not take part in nuclear disarmament talks for now, arguing that its nuclear capabilities remain far below those of the U.S. and Russia.

“China’s nuclear arsenal is of a totally different scale,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, urging Washington to handle post-treaty arrangements responsibly and resume strategic stability dialogue with Moscow.

The United States has insisted that any future arms control framework must include China, whose nuclear arsenal is expanding rapidly.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China has been adding roughly 100 nuclear warheads annually since 2023 and now possesses at least 600.

Russia and the United States together control more than 80 per cent of the world’s nuclear weapons and were previously capped at about 1,550 deployed strategic warheads each under New START.

A NATO official, speaking anonymously, called for “restraint and responsibility,” condemning what they described as Russia’s “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric,” while stressing that the alliance would continue taking necessary steps to ensure its defence.

Moscow said it now considers both countries “no longer bound by any obligations” under the treaty but claimed it would act responsibly while remaining ready to take “decisive” countermeasures if its security is being threatened.

Concerns over nuclear escalation have also been echoed by Japanese survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings during World War II. Terumi Tanaka, co-chair of the Nihon Hidankyo group, warned that the world appears to be drifting toward nuclear catastrophe.

“I have a feeling that in the not-too-distant future, we’ll actually have a nuclear war,” he said.

Meanwhile, the symbolic Doomsday Clock, which measures humanity’s proximity to global catastrophe, was moved closer to midnight ahead of the treaty’s expiration, reflecting heightened risks of nuclear conflict.

The New START agreement was signed in 2010 by the then U.S; President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, reducing deployed nuclear warheads by nearly 30 per cent.

Efforts to extend it stalled under U.S. President Donald Trump, who insisted on any new deal, must include China.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated that position on Wednesday, saying meaningful arms control in the 21st century would be “impossible” without Beijing’s participation.

However, arms control experts say Washington has yet to actively engage China in serious negotiations since Trump returned to office in 2025.