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1 1 (October 19, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcdu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: * Conqrcissioa flasearch Service Status of U.S.-Russian Nuclear Arms Control Talks October 19, 2020 Introduction The New START Treaty will expire on February 5, 2021, unless the United States and Russia agree to extend it, possibly for up to five years. In April 2019, President Trump called for expanded arms control efforts with Russia and China, both to capture all types of Russian weapons and to bring China into the process for the first time. The Administration argued that this would serve U.S. national security interests better than an extension of New START. In December 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that he was willing to extend New START for the five-year period, without preconditions, with Russian officials noting that the two countries could address other weapons systems in separate talks after extending New START. The United States and Russia held several meetings during 2020 to discuss a New START extension and a framework for a future agreement. China has refused to participate, noting that it has far fewer nuclear weapons than either the United States or Russia. Issues in the Negotiations China Prior to beginning negotiations with Russia, the U.S. negotiator, Ambassador Marshall Billingslea suggested that Washington would not extend New START unless China joined the talks. fie invited China to participate, but China declined. He then suggested that the United States would seek to convince Russia to pressure China to participate. Foreign Minister Ryabkov rejected this, noting that a decision on whether to join would be the sovereign right of China. Moreover, Russian officials have argued that a multilateral treaty should include the United Kingdom and France, a suggestion the United States has rejected. After their second meeting in August, Ambassador Billingslea reiterated the U.S. goal of including China in the negotiations but, in contrast to earlier statements, indicated that the United States was not suggesting ... that we would amend the New START Treaty to include China. He also did not insist that Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11520 CRS NStGHT Prepai-ed for Membei's amd Comm itees of Co -q.. . . . . . . . . . .. ..-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------