BEIJING, December 11. /TASS/. The United States should respond to Russia’s proposal for prolonging the Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START), thus creating conditions for a global strategic balance, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday.
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"We believe that the United States should respond to Russia’s calls for prolonging New START and to gradually reduce its tremendous nuclear weapons stockpiles," Hua told a regular news briefing.
She believes that Washington should in the first place comply with its WMD non-proliferation commitments, because the United States is on the list of countries possessing the most advanced nuclear potential. "If the United States is really worried by global strategic stability, it should refrain from negative actions that undermine stability and throw the world situation off balance," Hua said.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo told a news conference following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that US President Donald Trump was determined to maintain cooperation with Russia and China in the field of arms control. Lavrov noted that Russia was ready to consider the possibility of a multilateral arms control platform, if China responded to that idea.
In reply to a TASS question on November 5 Trump stated that the United States would like to conclude a new arms control agreement with Russia, China and possibly some other counties. Trump kept quiet when asked if Washington would like to prolong the New START.