Trump wants a nuclear arms treaty with Russia and China

Feb. 5 (UPI) — President Donald Trump wants a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia and China instead of extending the New START nuclear arms treaty with Russia that expired on Wednesday.

The New START treaty was a “badly negotiated deal” that Russia continually violated, and Trump wants to negotiate a new deal, he said in a Truth Social post made on Thursday.

“Rather than extend ‘New START,’ we should have our nuclear experts work on a new, improved and modernized treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump said.

The president did not elaborate on how Russia violated the treaty’s terms and said he wants China to be part of any new strategic arms treaty with Russia.

The New START treaty stands for New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and limited the number of ballistic missiles, heavy bombers and warheads within the respective U.S. and Russian nuclear arms arsenals.

It limited the United States and Russia to no more than a combination of 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers that are equipped for nuclear arms.

It also limited the total number of warheads to no more than 1,550 among each nation’s ballistic missiles and heavy bombers, with heavy bombers being counted as a single warhead

President Barack Obama’s administration negotiated the treaty, which took effect in 2011 and was extended for another five years in 2021 by the Biden administration.

House Democrats Gregory Meeks, Adam Smith and Jim Himes acknowledged the New START treaty was flawed and that Russia violated its terms in a joint statement issued on Thursday.

“Nevertheless, the treaty directly advanced U.S. foreign policy and national security interests: it reduced the number of nuclear weapons, helped prevent a dangerous arms race and provided U.S. national security agencies [with] reliable, verifiable insights into Russia’s arsenal,” they said.

“The president must move urgently to negotiate a legally binding successor,” they added.

“Failing to reach a legal New START successor will send a terrible signal both to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and to China, which is engaged in its own nuclear buildup, and roll back the clock to the nuclear free-for-all of the Cold War,” the lawmakers said.

Meeks is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, while Smith is the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, and Himes is the ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.