A warning to Putin? China's Xi avers world must 'oppose threats to use nuclear weapons'

A surprising development came to the fore in Russia and China’s strong ties, when the Chinese president indirectly warned his Russian counterpart to refrain from using nuclear weapons in the ongoing war against Ukraine. Chinese President Xi Jinping, without clearly mentioning Russia, asserted that he is against the use of nuclear warfare and the global community must  “reject the threat of nuclear weapons” in order to prevent a “crisis on the Eurasian continent”.

Xi, in a meeting with German chancellor Olaf Scholz in Beijing, said that the global community “should jointly oppose the use or threats to use nuclear weapons, advocate that nuclear weapons must not be used and nuclear wars must not be fought, in order to prevent a nuclear crisis in Eurasia,” Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. 

He further “pointed out that China supports Germany and the EU in playing an important role in promoting peace talks and promoting the building of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework.” “As large and influential countries, in times of change and turmoil China and Germany should work together all the more, to make more contributions to world peace and development. At present, the international situation is complex and volatile,” Xi added.

Threat of nuclear warfare looms as Russia-Ukraine war rages on

The Chinese President made the remarks at a meeting with Scholz, who travelled to the capital city of Beijing with top German officials. “I told [the] president that it is important for China to use its influence on Russia,” the German chancellor said. The meeting comes a week after the Kremlin issued a statement in which it revealed that “in implementing its policy on nuclear deterrence, Russia is strictly and consistently guided by the tenet that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”. 

“Russian doctrinal approaches in this sphere are defined with utmost accuracy, pursue solely defensive goals and do not admit of expansive interpretation,” the statement further read.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to face Russian hostility with rampant attacks on its key energy infrastructure that has led to regular blackouts in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and multiple other regions. Russian forces have also pounded Ukraine with a barrage of drone attacks that were facilitated by Iran. After refuting allegations of supplying drones to Russia, Iran finally acknowledged doing so and said that it gave the soviet nation “a limited number” of drones before the Russia-Ukraine conflict began.