Washington, February 14, 2025: U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed high-level discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate nuclear arms reductions and slash military spending by half.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Trump said he intended to hold a summit with the two leaders “when things calm down,” emphasizing that excessive defense budgets were unnecessary given Washington’s existing nuclear arsenal.
“There’s no reason to build new nuclear weapons when we already have enough to destroy the world 100 times over,” Trump said, adding that public funds could be allocated to more productive initiatives.
The proposal comes a day after Trump spoke with Putin about potential negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. The U.S. and Russia account for the majority of the world’s nuclear stockpile, with a combined total of approximately 10,805 warheads. China, though significantly behind, is rapidly expanding its arsenal and is projected to reach parity with the U.S. and Russia within a decade.
The U.S. remains the world’s top military spender, with a defense budget of $895 billion for the fiscal year 2025. In comparison, China’s military spending is estimated at $185 billion, while Russia allocated $145.9 billion last year.
Russia has expressed concerns over the future of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which limits nuclear warhead deployment and is set to expire in February 2026. Trump’s previous attempt to negotiate a three-way arms control deal with China and Russia was unsuccessful, as Beijing rejected the proposal after Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
Source: Al Jazeera
