Xi Jinping has personally warned Vladimir Putin not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The message was delivered face-to-face during the Chinese president’s state visit to Moscow in March, one of his first foreign trips after years of isolation due to the zero-Covid policy, Western and Chinese officials said under the cover. anonymously by the Financial Times (FT).
Since then, Chinese officials have privately taken credit for persuading the Russian president to drop his veiled threats to use a nuclear weapon against Ukraine, the FT’s sources said.
Xi Jinping’s approach shows, however, that Beijing has concerns about Russia’s war in Ukraine, even if it offers tacit support to Moscow, writes the Financial Times. On the other hand, discouraging Putin from using such a weapon was essential to China’s campaign to repair damaged ties with Europe, a high-ranking adviser to the Chinese government said, writes News.ro
In its public statements, China has consistently spoken out against the use of nuclear weapons. But many of Kiev’s supporters doubted Beijing’s commitment to such deterrence, given Xi’s “no-holds-barred” partnership with Putin and a “peace plan” that overlaps heavily with Russian talking points. However, Xi’s warning gave them hope that Beijing is standing by its public rhetoric behind closed doors and is likely to threaten consequences that would be enough to stop Putin from using a nuclear weapon, the FT notes.
Putin was left disappointed after Xi’s visit failed to yield any tangible gains for Russia, such as approval of the long-awaited Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline, Western security officials said. The condemnation of the use of nuclear weapons in their joint communiqué was almost certainly added at China’s request, the officials added.
If Russia were to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, “everything is to China’s disadvantage,” an official explained. A Russian nuclear attack on Ukraine or one of its European allies would risk turning Europe against China, a senior Chinese government adviser said, while sustained pressure from Beijing to prevent such an act could contribute to improving relations with the old continent.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said that “Russia has never had and will never have China’s approval to use nuclear weapons.” If Russia uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine, “China will distance itself even more from Russia,” he added.
Editor : V.M.
