New Delhi, Feb. 7 -- Russian and U.S. negotiators discussed the expiration of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between the two countries and agreed on the need to quickly launch new arms control talks, the Kremlin said Friday.

At the same time, the U.S. emphasized the need for China to join a future arms pact and accused Beijing of covert nuclear tests.

The New START treaty expired Thursday, leaving no caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century and fueling fears of an unconstrained nuclear arms race.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared his readiness to stick to the treaty's limits for another year if Washington followed suit. But U.S. President Donald Trump has argued that he wa...