During a visit to the Caribbean on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about recent talks in Geneva regarding weapons of mass destruction and the prospect of future nuclear weapons agreements. He responded that any such deal would have to involve Russia and China, specifically the latter, given the country’s weapons capacity and buildup.

“Well, we think ultimately, in the 21st century, for there to be a true arms control agreement, it has to involve China,” Rubio said about any future nuclear agreements. “Their stockpiles have increased dramatically.” 

He theorized about potential Chinese objections to doing so, noting that they would most likely cite the current size of their nuclear arsenal. However, Rubio hypothetically dismissed such objections and insisted that China be included in all future nuclear nonproliferation agreements.  

“Their position, that they would argue that they’re still way behind the United States and Russia, we think that’s irrelevant,” Rubio said. “They certainly have the capacity to catch up and are well on their way to doing so. So we believe, the President strongly believes, that any, for any sort of agreement, a nuclear agreement, in the 21st century to be legitimate, it has to involve these three countries, the United States, Russia, and China, and we’re going to continue to explore their willingness to do so.”

Rubio mentioned that, at present, China has refused to agree to or even discuss such a deal. However, he said the U.S. would continue to encourage them to do so because it would be “good for the world.” 

“They have publicly said they are not willing to do it,” Rubio added. “I’m sure you’ve heard them say that.  I’m sure they’ve reiterated it, and I know they restated that again very recently.”  

Regardless of China’s hesitance and reluctance, Rubio insisted the U.S. would work for a nuclear weapons deal with Russia and China, emphasizing again that China and Russia must both be included. He implied that President Donald Trump would only be interested in pursuing such an agreement if “all three countries” were involved.

“But we’ll continue to press on it because we think it would be good for the world if we could reach such an agreement,” Rubio said. “The President would be in favor of that if we could do it, but it has to be all three countries.”