The president of the United States, Joe Biden, expressed this Monday his willingness to begin negotiating “immediately” with Russia a new treaty to replace the New Start, the pact between the two countries that limits the number of nuclear weapons and which will expire in 2026. He also included China in his message, although he assured that the responsibility falls especially on Moscow, after having invaded Ukraine.
Biden’s proposal was presented in a statement on the occasion of the conference of the United Nations (UN) on Nuclear Non-Proliferation in New York, where the US will be represented by the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. The text states that Washington wants to “rapidly negotiate” a text, although “Russia must show that it is willing to resume work on nuclear arms control.”
The US president warned that any negotiation “requires a partner willing to operate in good faith” and recalled that “Russia’s brutal and unjustified aggression in Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe and constitutes an attack against the fundamental principles of the international order”. New Start limits to a maximum of 1,87 the warheads and in 700 the ballistic systems for each of the two countries.
China is also responsible
Biden also mentioned China in his statement and pointed out that it has a responsibility in this matter as one of the five states with weapons of this type that are adhered to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and as a member of the Council UN Security. In that sense, he pointed out that Beijing should embark on talks to reduce the risk of miscalculations and address “destabilizing military dynamics”.
“There are not any benefit to none of our nations or the world for resisting substantive cooperation on arms control and nuclear non-proliferation.” And he added that “the world can trust that my administration will continue to support the NPT and seek to strengthen the non-proliferation architecture that protects the people of the entire planet.”