We Will Always Negotiate from a Position of Strength: US Secretary of State

The US administration acknowledges that the signing of new nuclear weapons control agreements among Russia, the US, and potentially other countries will require prolonged negotiations.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated this in a statement published on the State Department's website. “We will always negotiate from a position of strength,” Rubio said, emphasizing that the US does not intend to agree to conditions that could undermine its security and will continue to modernize its nuclear forces while expressing interest in reducing the number of nuclear weapons.

According to the Secretary, the previous arms control system based on bilateral agreements between the US and Russia is no longer suitable for the current situation, given that China has significantly increased its nuclear capabilities in recent years. Washington believes that this fact necessitates a new approach to strategic stability that takes into account China’s capabilities.

“The rapid and opaque accumulation of nuclear warheads by the People's Republic of China since the entry into force of New START has rendered the previous model of arms control based on bilateral agreements between the US and Russia obsolete. Since 2020, China has increased its nuclear arsenal from just over 200 to more than 600 warheads and is on track to have over 1,000 by 2030. Any arms control agreement that does not consider the accumulation of warheads supported by Russia from China will inevitably make the US and our allies less secure,” Rubio noted.

Rubio believes that arms control should not be limited to agreements between the US and Russia. He pointed out that other countries, including China, also bear responsibility for maintaining strategic stability.