Xi warned Putin against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine- FT

Chinese leader Xi Jinping personally warned president Vladimir Putin of Russia against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine during his visit to Moscow in March, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing Western and Chinese officials.

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Mr Xi is reported to have delivered a face-to-face message to Mr Putin during his visit to Moscow.

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", officials told the FT.

According to a senior adviser to the Chinese government, deterring Putin from using nuclear weapons has been central to Beijing’s campaign to repair damaged ties with Europe.

Separately, a former Chinese government official confirmed to the FT that Mr Xi told Mr Putin personally not to use nuclear weapons, noting that China’s stance against their use was included in its "position paper on peace" in Ukraine.

"The condemnation of the use of nuclear weapons in their joint communiqué was almost certainly added at China’s behest", per the report.

China declares its ‘neutral’ position on Russia's war against Ukraine, which it calls ‘the Ukraine crisis’.

Beijing has reiterated the Russian propaganda cliché that Russia was ‘provoked’ into war by NATO and the United States, and has not condemned the war that Moscow is waging to destroy the Ukrainian people.

At the same time, however, China declared its commitment to the principle of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders. Chinese officials regularly call for negotiations and say they are ‘for global peace’.