Park Sung-min and Han Jong-gu, special correspondents = As the end of the 'New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty' (New START) between the United States and Russia, which limits strategic nuclear weapons (midnight on the 4th GMT, 9 a.m. on the 5th Korean time), approaches, the leaders of China and Russia, and the United States and China have been communicating by phone in succession.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation on the 4th (local time) and discussed bilateral relations, the Taiwan issue, and global issues, according to both sides.
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Among the agenda items mentioned by President Trump in the phone conversation, discussing "Military" may be related to the end of New START.
It is noteworthy what conversation took place between the U.S. and Chinese leaders, as President Xi held a phone call with President Trump shortly after discussing the situation related to New START's termination on the 5th in a video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the phone call with President Trump on that day.
Earlier, the Kremlin introduced that during the video conference between President Xi and President Putin discussing the situation regarding the end of New START, "President Putin emphasized that he will act cautiously and responsibly based on a thorough analysis of the overall security situation in this context. He remains open to finding negotiation methods that guarantee strategic stability."
President Trump has shown different views from Russia regarding the extension and maintenance of New START.
While Russia has been proposing an extension of New START since last year, President Trump is in favor of creating a new treaty that includes China, which is rapidly strengthening its nuclear capabilities, as a target country for nuclear weapons and other arms control agreements.
In other words, as the leaders of the United States and China, and China and Russia respectively held phone calls or video conferences on the day before New START's termination, it is expected that attention will be focused on what steps these three nations will take regarding arms reduction, including restrictions on nuclear weapons.
Additionally, President Trump and President Xi particularly emphasized the importance of U.S.-China relations on that day.
