World

Trump holds Russia and China denuclearisation talks

By AAP Newswire

Oct 16, 2026

US President Donald Trump says Washington is holding ‌talks with Moscow and Beijing aimed at denuclearising the ‌countries with the biggest stockpiles of nuclear weapons.

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Russia has ‌the most stored nuclear warheads followed by the United States and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The US outpaces Russia on its number ‌of deployed ‌warheads.

During ⁠an interview with Newsmax, Trump said he expects China to "catch up" with the US within the next five years.

"The whole thing is a shame, because I'd love to denuclearise if possible, but ⁠we're actually talking ‌to Russia about that, and we're talking to China about that denuclearisation," he told ‌the news outlet.

Newsmax reported Trump had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about denuclearisation.

Trump's comments come months after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expired earlier this year.

The New START treaty signed ‌in 2010 allowed one single extension, which was agreed by former US president Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin for five years. Any new extension would require an executive decision to voluntarily extend the limits of the ⁠treaty.

Trump in his first term as president failed to bring China into nuclear arms reduction talks.

Russia suspended its participation in New START during the Biden administration as the US and Russia continued on massive programs to replace their Cold War-era nuclear arsenals.