German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Chinese leader Xi Jinping who hosted him in Beijing on Tuesday that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine threatens global security, in an apparent call for China to apply greater pressure on its neighbour and close strategic partner to resolve the conflict. 

Scholz also told Xi at their meeting that the use of nuclear weapons in the war should not even be threatened. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty is threatened.