China considers the extension of the START-3 Treaty by Russia and the United States to be an extremely important step, but believes that this is not enough, the two nuclear superpowers must continue the irreversible reduction of nuclear arsenals, Fu Cong, Director of the Department of Arms Control of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a briefing on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.

“We noticed that Russia and the United States are conducting a strategic dialogue. First, I would like to say that China welcomes the extension of START III, which was an extremely important step that the United States opposed during the Donald Trump administration. Secondly, we do not believe that this is enough, because even after the extension of START-3, the United States and Russia together possess more than 90% of the nuclear weapons existing on Earth,” the diplomat said at a briefing.

He noted that the international consensus remains that Russia and the United States must continue to reduce their nuclear arsenals in an irreversible and legally binding manner.