The Trump administration invited Beijing to join talks on control of nuclear weapons, towards a tripartite nuclear deal.

Christopher Ford, assistant secretary of state for international security and arms control on 19 December, invited Beijing to join the two-way strategic security dialogue. "We hope to start as soon as possible. We look forward to Beijing's answer," the State Department stated on Twitter.

Washington added that the proposed negotiation with Beijing will focus on reducing nuclear risks and arms control in the future, but did not provide further details.

This is considered Washington's attempt to work towards a tripartite nuclear deal with Moscow and Beijing. Chinese officials have not commented on the proposal, but have repeatedly said they are not interested in negotiating the deal. Beijing in May rejected a proposal to join nuclear talks with the US and Russia. The Chinese embassy in Washington has yet to comment.

Beijing explained that China's stockpile of 300 nuclear weapons is only a fraction of what the US and Russian arsenal maintain. But the Trump administration says China's nuclear capabilities are improving, meaning the tripartite nuclear deal is not without meaning to Beijing.

Pranay Vaddi of the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace, a former member of the U.S. State Department's weapons control department under Obama and Trump, said the Trump administration had waited too long to invite China to join the third round of talks. party on nuclear weapons. The reason given by Vaddi is "the complexity of the detailed agreement on trilateral weapons control".

The State Department's message on December 19 did not mention the fate of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) ratified in 2010. New START limits the number of missiles deployed. intercontinental ballistic missiles, ballistic missiles launched from submarines, nuclear weapons and nuclear warheads from Russia and the United States.

New START will expire in February 2021. Russian President Putin said the agreement should be renewed. US President Trump left open the possibility of continuing the treaty, because he thought that it was not enough to curb the arms race.

The American Association of Scientists estimates that each US and Russia have about 4,000 nuclear weapons in stockpiles.