Xi warned Putin not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine after US, UK, and France threatened retaliation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff has said China plays an “important” role in deterring Russia from using nuclear arms, following reports of Xi Jinping warning Vladimir Putin against using such weapons in the war.
Mr Xi’s warning is believed to have come after the US, the UK and France – Nato’s nuclear powers – told the Kremlin they would retaliate with conventional weapons against any use of tactical nuclear arms.
Andriy Yermak, head of Mr Zelensky’s office, on Wednesday posted a screenshot of an article from the Financial Times about the Chinese president’s reported warning to the Russian leader, said to have been given during his state trip to Moscow in March.
“[This is] an important position of [China] regarding the nuclear threat from the insane Russian terrorist,” Mr Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it could not confirm the FT report, with Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, saying China and Russia had issued statements on the content of their talks in March, and “everything else is fiction”.
A senior adviser to the Chinese government said that deterring Mr Putin from deploying nuclear arms had been a key part of Beijing’s efforts to reconcile with Europe, the FT reported.
At the heart of China and Russia’s relations is a shared opposition to what they see as a world dominated by the United States and the expansion of the Nato military alliance which, they claim, threatens their security.
After securing an unprecedented third term as president earlier this year, Mr Xi made his first overseas trip to Moscow to meet his “dear friend” Mr Putin.
But the latest claims about the Chinese leader personally cautioning Mr Putin against using nuclear arms have raised hope that Beijing is standing by its public, anti-nuclear stance in private discussions with Kremlin officials, the FT reported.
US President, Joe Biden, said last month that the risk of Mr Putin using tactical nuclear arms was “real”, days after denouncing Russia’s deployment of such weapons in Belarus.
Mr Biden called Mr Putin’s announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus “absolutely irresponsible”.
The US said at the time it had no intention of altering its stance on strategic nuclear arms in response to the deployment and had not seen any signs that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.
In May, Russia dismissed Mr Biden’s criticism of its plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying the US had for decades deployed such nuclear weapons in Europe.
Mr Putin’s threats to “use all the means at our disposal” last autumn saw the US, UK, and France delivering a joint message to Russia. They said they would retaliate with conventional weapons if he used nuclear weapons in Ukraine, according to former US and Russian officials, the FT reported in February.
Additional reporting by agencies
