Any U.S. commitment to nuclear disarmament in the future will depend on China, a senior White House official said, while assuring that Washington has not lost sight of Russia.
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We would be willing to respect the constraints and participate in a disarmament regime after 2026, but a key variable will be the nature of our exchanges with China between now and then," he said in an interview with reporters.
A "certain level of reciprocity"
This exchange precedes a speech to be delivered this Friday, June 2, the National Security Advisor of the White House, Jake Sullivan, on nuclear disarmament. According to the aforementioned senior official, who did not wish to be named, the United States does not lose sight of Russia, which has suspended its participation in the New START nuclear disarmament treaty, the latest bilateral agreement of its kind linking the two former Cold War rivals. This agreement expires in 2026.
The United States is "open" to an "unconditional" dialogue with Moscow on the issue of nuclear weapons, the source said, stressing that the Americans were still seeking a "certain level of reciprocity" from the Russians. The US State Department nevertheless announced Thursday "countermeasures" in response to the Russian decision to suspend its participation in the treaty. The United States will therefore restrict the sharing of information with Russia on its nuclear arsenal.
Focused on China
But on nuclear matters, as with all other diplomatic activities, the United States is mostly focused on China, which is rapidly developing its arsenal, the senior official said. "The size of their arsenal, the nature of their strength and other policy developments will have an impact on our own posture in the future," he said. This will have repercussions on the positioning of Russia, which will have consequences on that of France and Great Britain, he analyzed: "everything is very connected". He assured that the Biden administration, while assuming a logic of rivalry with China, had nevertheless signaled to Beijing its "willingness" and "interest" in discussions concerning nuclear weapons.
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Relations are very tense between the two superpowers, despite the hopes of a "thaw" recently expressed by US President Joe Biden. For example, China recently declined the United States' invitation to a meeting between the two countries' defense ministers. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China has an arsenal of 350 nuclear warheads – far behind Russia (4477) and the United States (3708). But Beijing could have 1500 by 2035, predicts a US Department of Defense report in November.
