China called on Wednesday for “calm” and “restraint” the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the decree expanding its possibilities for using nuclear weapons.
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“Under the current circumstances, all parties should remain calm and exercise restraint, working together through dialogue and consultation to ease tensions,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at the meeting. a regular press conference.
“China’s position, which encourages all parties to de-escalate (…) and to commit to a political resolution of the Ukrainian crisis, remains unchanged,” added the spokesperson.
On the 1000th day of his offensive against Ukraine, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Tuesday expanding the possibilities of using nuclear weapons, just after the United States authorized kyiv to strike Russian soil with long-range missiles American made.
Mr. Putin warned at the end of September that any assault carried out by a non-nuclear country, but supported by a power with atomic weapons, could be considered a “joint” aggression, potentially requiring the use of nuclear weapons.
This revision of Russian nuclear doctrine was widely denounced by the West.
French President Emmanuel Macron notably denounced on Tuesday an “escalatory” posture of Russia in Ukraine, calling on Vladimir Putin “to reason” and calling on Xi Jinping to bring “all his weight” to bear on Moscow.
“I called on President Xi Jinping to use all his weight, his pressure, his negotiating capacity towards President Putin so that he stops the attacks,” he said.
On the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, China regularly calls for peace talks and respect for the territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine.
But she has never condemned Russia for its large-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory, which began in February 2022. Beijing-Moscow economic, diplomatic and military relations have even strengthened.
