During discussions in Alaska, the US president indicated to his Russian counterpart his desire for an agreement to limit nuclear weapons.
President Trump announced on Monday that the U.S. seeks a nuclear arms reduction agreement involving Russia and China. He mentioned discussing denuclearization with Russian President Putin during their recent meeting in Alaska.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, the U.S. president stated that Putin also expressed interest in the subject during their meeting.
“Our goal is denuclearization. The power is excessive, a topic we discussed,” Trump said.
“The summit was productive in other areas as well. We addressed missiles, nuclear weapons, and various other topics, including nuclear limitations. We aim to involve China in this. The U.S. possesses the most, followed by Russia, and then China. While China lags behind, they are projected to catch up within five years,” the U.S. president added.
The basis for the U.S. president’s assessment of the three countries’ nuclear arsenals was not immediately apparent. According to recent data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia possesses approximately 2,591 warheads in storage and 1,718 deployed, while the U.S. has 1,930 and 1,770, respectively.
SIPRI estimates that China has around 576 warheads, with only 24 deployed. The UK and France have 120 and 280 deployed warheads, respectively.
The U.S. president also mentioned further conversations with Putin after the August 15 meeting in Alaska.
“Every conversation I have with him is a good conversation. Then, unfortunately, a bomb is loaded up into Kiev or someplace, and then I get very angry about it. I think we’re going to get the war done. It’s tough,” Trump said, conceding that he initially believed the Ukraine conflict “would be the easiest” to resolve.
“`