The risk of Moscow resorting to nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict has decreased because the international community has drawn “a red line” against Russia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published on Thursday.
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“One thing has changed for the time being: Russia has stopped threatening to use nuclear weapons,” said the Chancellor in an interview with the German media group Funke und Ouest France. He sees this as a result of the international community, including China, “drawing a red line” in Moscow on the issue.
“We have put a stop to this for the time being,” said Olaf Scholz about the danger of a nuclear escalation.
The German leader believes his recent trip to China has borne fruit in this regard: “During my visit to Beijing, Chinese President Xi and I jointly declared that nuclear weapons should not be used. Shortly thereafter, the G20 countries reaffirmed this position.”
Asked about the recent controversy sparked by French President Emmanuel Macron, who believed Russia should be given “guarantees” to find a good balance in Ukraine after the war, Olaf Scholz acknowledged that in the long term the question of security was architecture would arise.
“The priority is for Russia to end the war immediately and withdraw its troops. It is right that the question then becomes how we can guarantee the security of Europe,” he said.
“Of course we are ready to discuss arms control in Europe with Russia. We had already proposed it before the war and that position has not changed,” he added.
After several nuclear threats by Russian officials in recent months, Putin hinted on Wednesday that Moscow would only use nuclear weapons in response to such an attack.
“We considered weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons, as a means of defense. (Recourse to) builds on what is known as +retaliatory strike+: if we are hit, we strike in response,” the Russian president added.
However, he noted that given the Russian-Western confrontation over Ukraine, “the threat of nuclear war is growing,” blaming Americans and Europeans.