U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that effective 21st-century arms control must include China due to the size and growth of Beijing's nuclear arsenal

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China claims nearly the entire South China Sea and has constructed artificial islands within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines

The Philippines is expanding its network of security partnerships alongside its long-standing treaty alliance with the United States to counter China's actions in the South China Sea

Atlantic Council fellow Akeel Abbas stated that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi used the Jurf al-Nasr smuggling crackdown to cut financial lifelines and force militia disarmament

Kataib Hezbollah issued threats and corruption accusations against Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi after the premier vowed to confront armed groups refusing unconditional state disarmament

While some Iraqi armed factions agreed to surrender their weapons to the state, Kataib Hezbollah and other powerful groups refused to disarm

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met with PMF leaders Falih Al-Fayyadh, Hadi Al-Ameri, and Abdul Aziz Al-Mohammadawi to defuse mounting confrontations over state-mandated disarmament

The Iraqi government extended the official deadline for non-state armed factions to surrender their weapons to the state until June 30, 2027

The Quad alliance of Indo-Pacific nations is widely viewed as a counterweight to China's growing regional influence, though its member states maintain the grouping does not target any specific nation

The White House confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump does not have a separate one-on-one bilateral meeting scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip to China for the APEC summit

The New START nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expired in February 2026 after President Donald Trump rejected a Russian proposal for a one-year extension

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to discuss global nuclear weapons reduction during the trilateral summit in Shenzhen, China with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin

Beijing has historically resisted joining nuclear arms control talks with Washington and Moscow, arguing that the United States and Russia hold far larger nuclear arsenals

China maintains an estimated stockpile of over 600 nuclear warheads, which U.S. officials project could expand to 1,000 warheads by 2030

Senior U.S. officials stated that the administration does not expect the first trilateral summit in Shenzhen, China to yield a nuclear arms control agreement, describing it as an initial conversation

The trilateral summit among Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping is scheduled for Thursday, November 19, 2026, following Trump's bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping

The United States military reportedly removed its nuclear weapons from RAF Lakenheath in 2008

Russia and the United States each possess estimated inventories of more than 5,000 nuclear warheads

The expiration of the New START treaty in February 2026 removed caps on the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia for the first time in over a half-century

The U.S. should let China broker an end to the Iran war

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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will travel to the Philippines and China for meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum