A key hurdle to extending a landmark nuclear treaty between the U.S. and Russia isn't Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin. It is China.
The New START treaty, the last major arms control accord between the world's two nuclear superpowers, is set to expire in early 2021. Like another key treaty covering intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which collapsed this year after the U.S. quit that accord, Trump administration officials say the agreement may not be worth extending if China isn't brought into the fold.
A failure to renew or extend the accord would mark the effective end of decades of agreements aimed at limiting the proliferation of nuclear weapons.