Russia is in discussions with China and the United States about making a mutual committment to restrict the use of artificial intelligence in nuclear arsenals, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday, ahead of a planned trilateral summit next week on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen.
Working-level negotiators have narrowed the summit agenda down to areas of potential consensus after larger geopolitical flashpoints — including the war in Ukraine and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula — largely fell off the table, the newspaper reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
China reportedly prefers that talks about the Ukraine war take place directly between Russia and the U.S., while treating Korean Peninsula security as a bilateral issue between Pyongyang and Washington.
Instead, negotiating teams have focused on establishing guardrails around artificial intelligence in nuclear command-and-control systems.
Russia maintains a cautious stance regarding formal curbs on nuclear command systems, largely resisting agreements that could constrain its military flexibility.
Russian, Chinese and American diplomats are also reportedly working toward a joint declaration reaffirming the principle that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this week that Moscow was exchanging agenda proposals with Washington and Beijing ahead of the summit.
“There could be a wide variety of issues,” Peskov said, adding that the meeting “will draw the attention of everyone in the world.”
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