Trump and Xi eased trade tensions. In the background there are concerns about nuclear weapons

US and Chinese leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have reached an agreement on fentanyl, some tariffs and rare earth metals for at least a year, but Trump has raised new concerns about nuclear weapons, the New York Times writes on Thursday.

The newspaper assessed that world leaders hoping for an agreement that would help stabilize the global economy received what they expected. However, they also got “something extra, i.e. increased concerns about whether the world is entering a new era of nuclear proliferation by global powers.”

After meeting with Xi, Trump announced that the leaders had “significantly de-escalated the trade impasse by agreeing in principle to a one-year cease-fire that will reverse retaliatory measures, including high tariffs and cutting off access to rare earth metals.”

In the daily's assessment, the global economy benefits from the agreement, but, as the newspaper noted, it was concluded “against the background of a new and sudden increase in nuclear threats between world powers.”

Trump said on Thursday, ahead of his meeting with Xi, that he had ordered the resumption of nuclear weapons tests “on par with other countries.” Trump justified this with other countries' testing programs, although he did not provide examples. However, he noted that the US has the most nuclear weapons in the world, Russia is in second place, and “China is a distant third, but will equal (the US and Russia) within 5 years.” This announcement was made against the background of recent statements by the Russian authorities about tests of nuclear-powered missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons, the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Poseidon torpedo.

According to the newspaper, Trump's entry was most likely intended to increase pressure before the meeting with the leader of China, which has the world's second-largest economy and the third-largest nuclear arsenal. After speaking with the Chinese leader, Trump appeared to have softened his earlier statement. He suggested that it was not addressed to China but to other countries, which he did not name.

The NYT wrote that “the chaotic backdrop to the meeting was a reminder of how Trump's approach to issues and diplomacy can change in an instant — even on something as important as strategy for managing America's nuclear arsenal — and showed his increasingly volatile approach to foreign policy since returning to office.” The newspaper also concluded that the meeting with Xi ended with a “clear victory” for the US president's foreign and domestic policy.

From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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