Trump Says US in Talks With China, Russia on Denuclearization - Aman Shanti News

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Oct. 13, 2026. Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump said on Oct. 15 that he is discussing denuclearization with the leaders of China and Russia, but suggested Beijing may be less willing to pursue it because of its smaller nuclear arsenal.

In an interview with Newsmax, Trump said China is “substantially behind” the United States in its nuclear stockpile but could catch up within the next five years.

“The whole thing is a shame, because I’d love to denuclearize if possible, but we’re actually talking to Russia about that, and ‌we’re ⁠talking to China about that denuclearization,” the president said.

When asked if he was holding discussions with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin about denuclearization, Trump confirmed that he was but did not elaborate.

Trump also noted that China is “probably less inclined” to pursue denuclearization, given that its nuclear arsenal is smaller than those of the United States and Russia.

Data from the Federation of American Scientists show that Russia leads in total nuclear weapons inventory with 5,420 warheads, while the United States has 5,042 and China has 620. Next in line are France with an estimated 370 warheads, the United Kingdom with 225, and India with 190.

Arms Treaty Expires

The last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expired on Feb. 5, leaving no legally binding limits on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals for the first time in decades.

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which had been in force since February 2011, required the two countries to cap their number of deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550.

Under New START, Russia and the United States agreed to limit their deployed nuclear-armed missiles and bombers to 700, while capping the total number of nuclear-capable launchers and bombers at 800.

U.S. under secretary for arms control and international security Thomas G. DiNanno has called for a renewal of a 15-year nuclear arms treaty with Russia to include China.

“As we sit here today, China’s entire nuclear arsenal has no limits, no transparency, no declarations, and no controls,” DiNanno said at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Feb. 6.

DiNanno said that Washington is aware of China’s nuclear explosive tests, including tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

Evgenia Filimianova and Stuart Liess contributed to this report.

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