BEIJING -- China on Friday rejected any prospect of joining in nuclear arms limitation talks with the U.S., calling reports from Washington that it would do so a distortion of its stated position.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters the U.S. was "neither serious nor sincere" in the proposed negotiations and should instead respond to Russia's call for an extension to the existing New START treaty limiting the number of nuclear warheads.
"China's objection to the so-called trilateral arms control negotiations is very clear, and the U.S. knows it very well. However, the U.S. is persistent on the issue and even distorted China's position," Zhao said at a daily news briefing.
China, with the world's biggest nuclear arsenal after the U.S. and Russia, has maintained it will not join in talks with Washington and Moscow on reducing its number of warheads. However, Zhao appeared to hold open the door to some form of discussions saying Washington needed to "create conditions for other nuclear-weapon states to participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations."
The U.S. pointedly noted the Chinese absence at talks with Russia in Vienna two weeks ago on extending or replacing New START, a 2010 arms reduction treaty. It's set to expire in February unless the parties agree to extend it for another five years.
After both Moscow and Washington withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty last year, the New START is the only remaining nuclear arms control deal between the two countries.
Russia has offered its extension without any conditions, while the Trump administration has pushed for a new arms control agreement that would also include China. Moscow has described that idea as unfeasible, pointing at Beijing's refusal to negotiate any deal that would reduce its much smaller nuclear arsenal.
Fu Cong, the director general of the Foreign Ministry's arms control department, on Wednesday called that demand unrealistic pointing out that China has a smaller arsenal than the other two. By inviting China to join, the U.S. is creating a pretext to walk away from the talks without replacing the treaty, he said.
Russia's top diplomat said Friday he's not very optimistic about prospects for an extension of New START because of Washington's focus on making China sign up to the pact.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Russia only wants to keep the New START treaty as much as the U.S. does and will protect its security regardless of the pact's fate.
"We only need the extension as much as the Americans do," Lavrov said during a conference call with foreign policy experts. "If they categorically refuse, we will not try to persuade them."
The New START treaty was signed in 2010 by former President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The pact limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers and envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance.
Lavrov dismissed the U.S. suggestions that Russia help convince Beijing to join nuclear arms cuts, saying that Moscow respects the Chinese position and considers it "undiplomatic" to push it on the issue. He reaffirmed that Russia would welcome other nuclear powers, including Britain, France and China to join nuclear arms cuts, but emphasized that it should be their own decision.
He noted that Russia hasn't decided yet whether to remain in the Open Skies Treaty allowing observation flights over military facilities after the U.S. pullout.
Trump declared an intention to pull out of the agreement in May, citing Russian violations. Russia denied breaching the pact, which came into force in 2002, and the European Union has urged the U.S. to reconsider.
"We will make a final decision on whether to stay in it after we weigh all the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal," Lavrov said.
Asked whether global stability could benefit if Democrat Joe Biden wins the U.S. election, Lavrov refrained from comment.
"It's the American people's business, a U.S. domestic affair," he said. "I wouldn't engage in guesswork. The situation is unpredictable."
He noted that while the Democrats traditionally have shown more interest in arms control deals, Russia-U.S. ties went into a quick tailspin under Obama's administration.