Georgian prime minister shelves EU accession process
4 hours ago
Chinese leader Xi Jinping personally warned Vladimir Putin against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported citing unnamed Western and Chinese officials.
To remind, Xi went to Moscow in March to show solidarity with Putin. Some analysts took that meeting as an act of open defiance by Beijing and an explicit challenge to the US’ claim to be the global leader.
Reportedly, despite the projection of support, during the face-to-face meeting with Putin in March Xi delivered a nuclear warning to Putin. Since then, Chinese officials have privately taken credit for convincing the Russian president to back down from his veiled threats of using a nuclear weapon against Ukraine, unnamed sources told the Financial Times.
“The Chinese are taking credit for sending the message at every level,” a senior US administration official said, as cited by the Financial Times.
Since then, however, Putin has again played the nuke card, by announcing his intention to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for training, reversing a policy of almost three decades standing.
Deterring Putin from using nuclear weapons has also been central to China’s campaign to repair damaged ties with Europe, the Financial Times notes citing a senior adviser to the Chinese government.
Indeed, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said in March that Xi’s visit “reduces the risk of nuclear war and they [the Chinese] have made it very, very clear”, the Financial Times remind.
“Russia has never and will never have China’s approval for using nuclear weapons,” Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, told the Financial Times, arguing that should Russia use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, “China will further distance itself from Russia”.
Most recently Putin, whose ratings at home seem to have survived a military mutiny, has thanked India and China for the support shown during the private military company Wagner crisis. As analysed by bne IntelliNews, the unprecedented and short-lived coup attempt by Wagner could result in a shift in China's Russian policy.
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