US in ‘denuclearisation’ talks with Russia and China: Trump

The US and Russia each have more than 4,000 warheads. China is set to catch up with them within five years, Trump says.

The US and Russia each have more than 4,000 nuclear warheads. China is racing to catch up (File: Handout/Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations via AFP)

The United States is engaged in talks with Russia and China regarding nuclear disarmament, President Donald Trump has announced.

Trump said on Thursday that China – which lags behind the US and Russia in terms of the number of warheads it has – is racing to catch up. He added during an interview with US broadcaster Newsmax that Washington is discussing with its peers a route to “denuclearise”.

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China’s nuclear stockpile of about 620 warheads is dwarfed by those of the US and Russia, which each have more than 4,000, but Trump said he thinks China will “catch up” within five years.

“The whole thing is a shame because I’d love to denuclearise if possible,” Trump said. “We’re actually talking ⁠to Russia about that, and ⁠we’re talking to China about that denuclearisation.”

China doesn’t seem willing to disarm, he noted, but said talks have continued. Newsmax reported that Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the subject, but no further details regarding the talks with either Russia or China were revealed.

Russia has the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear warheads , and the US is close behind, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The two countries together possess an estimated 86 percent of all nuclear weapons globally.

China has the third largest nuclear arsenal, according to SIPRI, having expanded it to 620 warheads in the past year.

Trump’s claims came shortly after the expiration of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, an arms control agreement between the US and Russia to limit their nuclear arsenals.

A month after the treaty expired, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the Forward Deterrence Initiative as Russia’s nuclear sabre-rattling during its war on Ukraine has spooked Europe.

Former Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gareth Evans told Al Jazeera that the world’s interest in the risk of nuclear weapons has waned.

“[The] world … has become alarmingly complacent about the risks of nuclear war with every major nuclear arms control agreement dead, dying or on life support and the longstanding taboo against threat or use eroding,” he said

美国和俄罗斯各自拥有超过4000枚核弹头。特朗普说，中国将在五年内赶上它们。

美国和俄罗斯各自拥有超过4000枚核弹头。中国正在努力追赶。（图片来源：巴基斯坦三军公共关系部供图，经法新社发布）

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普宣布，美国正与俄罗斯和中国就核裁军问题进行谈判。

特朗普周四表示，中国——其核弹头数量落后于美国和俄罗斯——正在加紧追赶。他在接受美国新闻媒体Newsmax采访时补充说，华盛顿正在与其他国家探讨“无核化”途径。

俄罗斯一架可携带核弹头的轰炸机坠毁，造成6人死亡，事故共3起，这是第1起。

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中国的核武库拥有约 620 枚核弹头，与美国和俄罗斯的核武库相比相形见绌，美俄两国均拥有超过 4000 枚核弹头，但特朗普表示，他认为中国将在五年内“赶上”。

“整件事都很遗憾，因为如果可能的话，我非常希望实现无核化，”特朗普说。“我们实际上正在与俄罗斯就此进行谈判，也正在与中国就无核化问题进行谈判。”

他指出，中国似乎并不愿意裁军，但表示谈判仍在继续。Newsmax报道称，特朗普就此问题与中国国家主席习近平进行了通话，但没有透露与俄罗斯或中国会谈的更多细节。

根据斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所（SIPRI）的数据，俄罗斯拥有世界上最大的核弹头储备，美国紧随其后。

这两个国家合计拥有全球约 86% 的核武器。

根据斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所（SIPRI）的数据，中国拥有世界第三大核武库，在过去一年中，其核弹头数量已增至620枚。

特朗普发表上述言论不久后，《削减战略武器条约》到期，该条约是美国和俄罗斯之间旨在限制两国核武库的军控协议。

该条约到期一个月后，法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙宣布了“前沿威慑倡议”，因为俄罗斯在乌克兰战争期间的核武威胁令欧洲感到恐慌。

澳大利亚前外交部长加雷思·埃文斯告诉半岛电视台，世界对核武器风险的关注度已经下降。

他说：“世界……对核战争的风险已经变得令人担忧地麻木，每一项主要的核军控协议都已失效、濒临失效或岌岌可危，而长期以来禁止威胁或使用核武器的禁忌也在逐渐瓦解。”