German chancellor presses China on Russia's invasion of Ukraine
BEIJING (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens global security, in an apparent call for China to apply greater pressure on its neighbor and close strategic partner to resolve the conflict.
Scholz also said the use of nuclear weapons in the two-year-old war should not even be threatened, according to a German government transcript of his brief remarks at the start of a meeting with Xi in the Chinese capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last month that his government is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is threatened, his latest such threat since invading Ukraine.
Russia’s actions “violate a principle of the United Nations Charter, the principle of the inviolability of national borders,” Scholz said.
China has refused to criticize the invasion. While the government says it is not sending military aid to Moscow, it has provided an economic lifeline that has helped it cope with sanctions from the West. A U.S. intelligence report last week found Beijing has increased equipment sales to Moscow to indirectly boost its war effort against Ukraine.