U.S. warns on growing nuclear arsenals of China, Russia, North Korea - Reuters

FEBRUARY 6, 2018 / 9:01 PM / UPDATED 41 MINUTES AGO

U.S. warns on growing nuclear arsenals of China, Russia, North Korea

Reuters Staff

GENEVA (Reuters) - North Korea may be only months away from being able to strike the United States with a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile and its atomic weapons program must be shut down, a senior U.S. disarmament official said on Tuesday.

U.S. disarmament ambassador Robert Wood, addressing the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, also warned that arsenals in China and Russia were expanding.

“Russia, China and North Korea are growing their stockpiles, increasing the prominence of nuclear weapons in their security strategies, and - in some cases - pursuing the development of new nuclear capabilities to threaten other peaceful nations,” he said.

North Korea “may now be only months away from the capability to strike the U.S. with nuclear-armed ballistic missiles”.

Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Alison Williams