US negotiates nuclear arms treaty with Russia, wants China's inclusion in talks

US President Donald Trump has sought to include China in talks to replace New START, the flagship nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia, which expires in February.

US and Russian negotiators concluded a round of nuclear arms control talks in Vienna on Monday. The said pact is the last remaining, wide-ranging treaty restricting all nuclear weapons, not just strategic ones.

China should also be involved in the process, US Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea said on Tuesday.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

China, a nuclear power with an arsenal a fraction the size of those of the Cold War-era superpowers, has repeatedly declined.

Washington wants a trilateral deal including China because it says Beijing is secretly racing to increase its arsenal's size and reach, but Moscow favours a multilateral agreement possibly including France and Britain.

"What I would say is we have not made a decision one way or another," Billingslea told a news conference when asked if New START would be extended.

He was speaking a day after a first round of talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

The two sides agreed to set up multiple technical working groups and a second round of talks will be held possibly in late July or early August, depending on the working groups' progress, Billingslea said. He did not specify what the working groups would deal with.

Russia, however, said China joining was unrealistic.

New START imposes limits on the number of US and Russian long-range nuclear warheads and launchers. The deal was made in 2010, but the limits didn't take effect until 2018.

It became the last nuclear arms pact between the two nations after the US Last year scrapped the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia.

The INF treaty was also criticised because it did not cover China or missile technology that did not exist a generation ago.

(with inputs from agencies)