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China urges ‘peaceful’ end to Ukraine war as Russia plans to move nuclear weapons into Belarus
- All parties should ‘jointly promote the relaxation of the situation’ over Ukraine, Chinese foreign ministry says
- Russia’s plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes days after joint pledge with China against such moves
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Beijing has reiterated its call for resolving the Ukraine war “peacefully”, after Russia said it would station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus, days after a joint pledge with China against deploying nuclear weapons beyond national territories.
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Asked about Moscow’s latest move, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said: “Under the current circumstances, all parties should focus on diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the Ukrainian crisis and jointly promote the relaxation of the situation.
“In January last year, the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states issued a joint statement, pointing out that a nuclear war cannot be won or fought, emphasising that wars between nuclear-weapon states should be avoided and strategic risks should be reduced,” Mao told a regular press briefing on Monday.
The deployment would mark the first time that Russian nuclear arms would be based beyond its borders since the mid-1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It also follows several nuclear threats by Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
03:15
Ukraine calls for emergency UN meeting as Putin says Russia will deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus
Ukraine calls for emergency UN meeting as Putin says Russia will deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus
Russian President Vladimir Putin compared the move to the US stationing its weapons on allied territory “for decades”.
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