BEIJING: China on Wednesday urged calm and restraint after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved changes in the country’s nuclear doctrine while Ukraine fired US-supplied long-range missiles for the first time.
Moscow has reacted furiously to a decision by US President Joe Biden to change policy on Ukraine and allow Kyiv to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike Russian territory for the first time.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian called for de-escalation of tensions. “Under the current situation, all parties should remain calm and exercise restraint, promoting de-escalation through dialogue and consultation to reduce strategic risks,” the spokesman said as quoted by Anadolu news agency.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman was responding to questions about Moscow adjusting its threshold to use nuclear weapons and Kyiv firing long-range missiles inside the Russian territory for the first time since the war began in February 2022.
Lin Jian said that China’s position on the Ukraine crisis “is consistent and clear.” Beijing hopes “for all parties to promote de-escalation and commit to a political solution to the Ukraine crisis,” the spokesman said, adding that China will continue to “play a constructive role in this regard.”
On Tuesday, Putin signed a decree that allows Russia to consider any attack on its territory by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack.
The White House, UK and European Union condemned Putin’s nuclear decree as “irresponsible”.
Speaking to journalists after the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, French leader Emmanuel Macron said he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the G20 to “use all his influence” with Putin to try to achieve a de-escalation, AFP reported.
Macron said China had “the capacity to negotiate with President Putin so that he halts his attacks” on Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Spain’s embassy in Ukraine has decided to temporarily close its offices today, citing information on a possible major attack on Kyiv, according to Spain’s EFE news agency, after the US did the same earlier today.
The Greek embassy made a similar announcement, remaining shut to the public for the day. Italy’s embassy in Ukraine has also announced it will be closed today as a precaution, Al Jazeera reported.
On Tuesday, Putin approved changes in the country’s nuclear doctrine which allows Russia to consider any attack on its territory by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack.
Changes in the Foundations of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence, the country’s updated nuclear doctrine, expands the range of countries and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence, as well as the list of military threats that such deterrence is designed to counter, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported.
The move comes after the United States reportedly allowed Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike military targets inside Russia, AFP reported.
Moscow on Tuesday said Ukraine fired six US-supplied longer-range missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region. A Telegram channel affiliated with the Ukrainian military posted a video Tuesday that it says shows US-supplied ATACMS missiles being fired from an undisclosed location in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry in a statement said the military shot down five ATACMS missiles and damaged one more. The fragments fell on the territory of an unspecified military facility, the ministry said.
Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.
The revised doctrine allows Moscow to consider a nuclear response to a conventional weapons attack threatening its sovereignty, a large-scale launch of enemy aircraft, missiles, and drones targeting Russian territory, their crossing of the Russian border, and an attack on its ally Belarus, TASS reported.
The previous version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine was approved in June 2020, replacing a similar document that had been in force for ten years. The updated nuclear doctrine of Russia has been published, TASS reported.
