President Volodymyr Zelensky said China has, for the first time, responded “harshly and unequivocally” to Russian rhetoric about the possible use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
Speaking in response to a question from Radio NV, Zelensky said several European leaders had told him they recently discussed the issue with Chinese officials, who made clear that Beijing opposes any use of nuclear weapons.
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“Several European leaders told me they had spoken with Chinese representatives. According to them, China responded very seriously, harshly and unequivocally to allegations in Russian media about the possible use of nuclear weapons,” Zelensky said.
“It seems to me this is the first time Beijing has responded so clearly and forcefully,” he added.
He revealed that Chinese officials had delivered what European leaders described as an ultimatum rejecting any discussion of nuclear escalation.
“As European leaders have told me, the Chinese side has stated in an ultimatum that there can be no discussion of the use of nuclear weapons,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president said China was among several issues discussed during his meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, alongside the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“President Trump and I discussed China, its role in this war, its participation or potential participation, and its capabilities. But, with all due respect, I would like the details of this particular conversation to remain between me and the US president,” he said.
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According to Zelensky, several European leaders also raised China’s potential role in helping end the war during bilateral meetings at the summit.
His remarks come after several high-profile calls in Russia for nuclear escalation.
In early June Former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that a nuclear apocalypse is “realistically possible,” reviving the Kremlin’s nuclear rhetoric amid Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
“I am often reproached for using harsh rhetoric and talking about nuclear apocalypse, but unfortunately it is realistically possible,” Medvedev said during Russia’s federal educational marathon “Znanie.”
Medvedev said such scenarios cannot be ruled out and argued that Russia must remain prepared for them.
“That is precisely why our country has a triad of strategic nuclear forces, and it is maintained in proper condition,” he said.
The remarks were the latest in a series of nuclear warnings issued by Medvedev since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He has repeatedly accused Western countries of escalating the risk of direct confrontation by supplying weapons to Kyiv.
Former US ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer previously told Kyiv Post that Medvedev’s rhetoric should not be viewed as authoritative Kremlin policy, ridiculing the former Russian president’s repeated nuclear threats.
“Former President Medvedev says a lot of things that are, quite frankly, borderline crazy or just outright crazy,” Pifer said.
Pifer also said Moscow frequently uses nuclear threats as an intimidation tactic aimed at weakening Western and European support for Ukraine.
Later, on June 9, a member of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly publicly proposed using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, arguing that Russia’s so-called “special military operation” was not progressing as planned.
On June 21, pro-Kremlin oligarch Konstantin Malofeev urged Russia to carry out nuclear strikes targeting “terminals, fiber-optic cables in the Atlantic, and with shrapnel missiles in space” to disrupt Ukraine’s command-and-control capabilities.
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