The United States is in talks with Russia and China about "denuclearisation," President Donald Trump has said, reviving the idea of a grand bargain to reduce the world's largest nuclear arsenals. Speaking to the US broadcaster Newsmax on Thursday, Trump said Washington was discussing with its peers a route to shrinking their stockpiles — a claim that arrives at a moment when the last surviving US-Russia arms-control agreement has lapsed and the global taboo against nuclear threats is under strain.

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What Trump said

"The whole thing is a shame, because I'd love to denuclearize if possible, but we're actually talking to Russia about that, and we're talking to China about that denuclearization," Trump told Newsmax, Reuters reported. He added that he expects China to "catch up" with the United States within five years.

Newsmax reported that Trump had personally spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the subject. No details of the talks with either Russia or China were disclosed, and Trump acknowledged that Beijing does not appear willing to disarm, saying the discussions had nonetheless continued, Al Jazeera reported.

The numbers: who holds what

Russia has the most stored nuclear warheads, followed by the United States and then China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) — though the US outpaces Russia on the number of deployed warheads. Together, the US and Russia hold an estimated 86 percent of all nuclear weapons in the world, Al Jazeera noted, while China's arsenal of roughly 620 warheads remains the third largest and has been expanding.

A vacuum where New START used to be

Trump's comments land months after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty — New START — expired earlier this year. Signed in 2010, the treaty permitted only one extension, agreed by then-President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin for five years. Any new limits would now require a fresh, voluntary executive arrangement.

The treaty's expiry has already reshaped European security thinking. A month after it lapsed, French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled the Forward Deterrence Initiative, a response to Russia's nuclear sabre-rattling during the war in Ukraine that has spooked allies across the continent. NATO, meanwhile, has continued its annual Steadfast Noon nuclear deterrence exercises as a signal of alliance cohesion.

Arms-control veterans warn that the moment for grand ambitions could not be riskier. Former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans told Al Jazeera the world had become "alarmingly complacent about the risks of nuclear war, with every major nuclear arms control agreement dead, dying or on life support and the longstanding taboo against threat or use eroding."

How Beijing and Moscow are reading it

The trilateral framing itself is the novel part. Historically, arms control has been a bilateral US-Russia affair; China has long refused to join formal negotiations while its arsenal is a fraction of the two superpowers'. Bringing Beijing to the table would be a diplomatic feat — but Trump's own admission that China is unwilling to disarm underscores how far that ambition is from reality.

The timing also matters. The claim came as Trump ties the conversation to his broader contention that the other nuclear powers must be brought into a shared framework — a long-standing personal fixation that predates his current term. Whether Thursday's remarks reflect a genuine negotiating track or a public signal aimed at domestic and allied audiences remains unclear, and neither Moscow nor Beijing has publicly confirmed the talks.

For now, the pledge sits alongside a series of unfulfilled US-Russia disarmament promises stretching back years — including the unfulfilled arms-control ambitions that analysts noted ahead of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. What is certain is that the legal architecture that once constrained the two largest arsenals is gone, and nothing has replaced it yet.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Trump actually say about denuclearisation?

In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, October 15, he said the US is "actually talking to Russia about that, and we're talking to China about that denuclearization," and that he would love to denuclearise if possible. No further details were revealed.

How many nuclear weapons do Russia, the US and China have?

Russia has the most stored warheads, followed by the United States; China is third with about 620, according to SIPRI. The US outpaces Russia on deployed warheads, and the two together hold roughly 86 percent of the global stockpile.

What happened to the New START treaty?

The 2010 treaty between the US and Russia expired earlier in 2026. It allowed only one extension, which was agreed by Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin for five years. No replacement agreement is in place.

Has China ever joined nuclear arms-control talks?

Not in formal negotiations. Beijing has long declined while its arsenal is far smaller than those of Washington and Moscow, making Trump's claim of ongoing talks — and his acknowledgment that China seems unwilling to disarm — notable.

Why are arms-control experts worried right now?

Because every major nuclear arms-control agreement is dead, dying or on life support, as former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans put it — while Russia's nuclear rhetoric during the Ukraine war has eroded the longstanding taboo against threats to use such weapons.