RUBIO CALLS FOR CHINA TO BE INCLUDED IN FUTURE NUCLEAR TALKS

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, echoing reported comments from his boss President Donald Trump, on Friday rejected a new version of the last major nuclear disarmament treaty between Russia and the United States.

"New START no longer serves its purpose," he wrote on X. Instead, he is insisting on an agreement that also includes China, which Trump had previously advocated in a January interview with the New York Times.

In a lengthy post published on the State Department's Substack page, Rubio said a "new era requires a new approach."

The Russian government recently expressed regret over the treaty's expiration and understanding for Beijing's position of not participating in possible future negotiations. China's nuclear arsenal does not match the potential of that of Russia or the United States, the Kremlin said.

The previous New START treaty was concluded between the US and Russia in 2010 and officially expired on Thursday. The agreement limited the number of strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 for each side and the number of operational launchers to 700.

Rubio argued that China had rapidly and opaquely expanded its arsenal since New START came into force.

"Since 2020, China has increased its nuclear weapons stockpile from just from the low 200s to more than 600 and is on pace to have more than 1,000 warheads by 2030," he wrote.

Rubio warned that an arms treaty that excludes China would "undoubtedly leave the United States and our allies less safe."

Rubio also dampened expectations for a new agreement to be concluded soon. Previous agreements were preceded by years of negotiations, even though only two major powers were involved.

2026-02-06T15:33:56Z