The risk of Moscow using nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict has diminished because the international community “has drawn a red line” at Russia, according to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“One thing has changed for the moment: Russia has stopped threatening to use nuclear weapons,” the chancellor said in an interview published Thursday.
He sees this as a consequence of the fact that the international community, including China, “has drawn a red line” for Moscow on this issue.
“For the time being, we have put a stop to it,” said Scholz, referring to the risk of a nuclear escalation.
Scholz believes his recent trip to China is part of the reason behind the apparent lessening of the nuclear weapons threat from Russia.
“During my visit to Beijing, Chinese President Xi and I jointly declared that nuclear weapons should not be used. Shortly afterwards, the G20 countries reaffirmed this position,” said Scholz.
Asked about the recent controversy triggered by French President Emmanuel Macron, who felt that Russia should be given “guarantees” to find a good balance once the war in Ukraine was over, Scholz acknowledged that in the long run the question of the security architecture would arise.
“The priority is for Russia to end the war immediately and withdraw its troops. It is true that it is then a question of how we can ensure Europe’s security,” he said.
“We are of course ready to discuss arms control in Europe with Russia. We proposed this before the war and this position has not changed,” he added.
After several threats to use nuclear weapons from Russian officials in recent months, Putin suggested on Wednesday that Moscow would only use nuclear weapons in response to such an attack.
“We used to consider weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons, as a means of defence,” Putin said.
The Russian president however said “the threat of a nuclear war is growing”, given the Russia-West confrontation over Ukraine, blaming the Americans and Europeans.
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