US meeting Russian and Chinese delegations for nuclear arms control talks, official says

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. met a Russian delegation in Geneva on Monday and will meet a Chinese delegation on Tuesday for talks about forging a potential multilateral nuclear arms control treaty, a senior U.S. State Department official said.

The U.S. has called for a new, broader arms control treaty that would bring in China as well as Russia, after the agreement limiting U.S. and Russian missile and warhead deployments, known as New START, expired.

China's ambassador for disarmament, Shen Jian, said earlier this month that his country would not participate in new negotiations for nuclear arms control with Moscow and Washington at this stage. It was not immediately clear whether Tuesday's talks would involve formal negotiations.

The Chinese and Russian permanent missions in Geneva did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Earlier in February, the U.S. said China had conducted a secret nuclear test in June 2020, which Shen unequivocally denied.

The senior U.S. official said they had already conducted good bilateral talks with the UK and France, which are also members of the U.N. Security Council.

"Taking discussions to the five permanent members of the Security Council was the next logical step," they stated, adding that they were optimistic.