(VOVWORLD) - US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said Friday that any future negotiations on arms control between Russia and the US must include China.
 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference in Minsk, Belarus in February, 2020. (Photo: AFP) |
The top diplomat's remarks came during a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on next steps in the bilateral Strategic Security Dialogue, taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic, State Department Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is the last remaining nuclear arms agreement between Russia and the US after Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty last year.
The Trump administration has said it wants an extension of New START, which is set to expire next February, to include China to the treaty that was signed in 2010. China rejected the offer later by saying Beijing was not interested in negotiations on such an agreement.