China and Russia hold a new round of strategic stability consultation in Beijing on February 3, 2026. Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Tuesday co-chaired a new round of China-Russia strategic stability consultation in Beijing. The two sides held in-depth exchanges of views on the current global strategic stability situation and multilateral arms control issues, and reached broad consensus, according to a readout released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. 

Both sides agreed that global strategic stability is facing severe challenges. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia will continue to strengthen strategic coordination, firmly support multilateralism, actively uphold the authority and effectiveness of international arms control treaties and mechanisms, and contribute to safeguarding global strategic stability and promoting world peace and security, per the readout. 

Chinese experts told the Global Times that the consultation demonstrates the two sides' careful, serious and responsible approach to global strategic stability and arms control. 

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs analyst, noted that at the United Nations level, China and Russia can jointly stress the vital importance of strategic stability mechanisms for global peace and security. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, the two countries can coordinate their positions within the UN framework, defend arms control systems based on international law and multilateral mechanisms, and push the international community to build consensus, preventing the erosion or bypassing of the global strategic stability architecture.

The consultations come just two days before the New START Treaty is set to expire on February 5, as the last remaining US-Russia nuclear arms control agreement faces the risk of collapse. 

The New START Treaty is the only remaining arms control treaty between the two countries after the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty collapsed in 2019. A Russian media reporter noted at the press briefing of Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin previously announced that Russia is prepared to continue observing the limits of New START for another year, but the US has yet to respond.

"China noted the constructive proposal Russia put forward regarding the arrangement after New START expires. We hope the US will actively respond to the proposal and truly uphold global strategic stability," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday in response to the Russian media inquiry about how China views the impact on global strategic stability in regard of the absence of any arms control agreement between the world's two largest nuclear powers.

Expert noted that although China is not a party to the New START Treaty, it has consistently supported its continuation and renewal, viewing the treaty as a key mechanism to enhance global security and prevent miscalculations among major powers. "China seeks to gradually advance broader global arms control negotiations on the basis of equality and mutual respect, rather than passively joining a bilateral framework," Zhang Hong, a research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

According to the expert, China has consistently exercised strict restraint in its nuclear policy and committed unconditionally to not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states and nuclear-weapon-free zones. This reflects a prudent and responsible stance in maintaining strategic stability.

Western media outlets such as Reuters and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), an American non-profit organization, have warned that the New START's expiration could spark a new nuclear arms race, fuel geopolitical instability, and further strain US-Russia relations. 

The UK-based think tank Chatham House noted this would mark a significant break in more than five decades of bilateral nuclear arms control and signal a move away from nuclear restraint, making the world a more dangerous place. American outlet Politico even used the word "dying" in its headline, reporting on the issue under the title: "The last US nuclear weapons treaty with Russia is dying."

In an analysis of the unfolding situation, US News and Analysis website The Conversation, a network of nonprofit media outlets, ran a section under the subheading "An Ominous Warning," arguing that the current US administration's actions, from bombing Iran to toppling Venezuela's leader, reflect a broad disdain for international law and treaties. The website stressed that these moves reveal a "desire to use any instrument of power to assert US interests and supremacy."

When asked about previous report by the Financial Times that US President Donald Trump wants to maintain the nuclear weapon restrictions and include China in arms control negotiations, Lin said at Tuesday's press conference that China's position on a trilateral negotiation with the US and Russia on nuclear arms control is clear. 

China's nuclear strength is by no means at the same level with that of the US. It is neither fair nor reasonable to ask China to join the nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage, Lin said.

Song noted that China commits to a no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons and maintains a second-strike posture, using nuclear weapons neither to threaten nor intimidate any country, including non-nuclear states and regions. "For Washington to demand China's immediate entry into disarmament negotiations ignores strategic realities and undermines global strategic stability," the expert added.