The U.S. secretary of state told the Financial Times that pressure from Beijing dissuaded Vladimir Putin from using nuclear weapons.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated that Russia had seriously considered using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but China dissuaded it from doing so. Source: Blinken's comments to the Financial Times Details: Blinken said the US was "very concerned" that Putin appeared to have at least contemplated the nuclear option.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his Social Democratic Party (SPD) colleagues have criticised as false the statements by Roderich Kiesewetter, a politician from the opposition CDU party, alleging Scholz's intent to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin before 23 February.

Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) has accused an opposition conservative politician of spreading false information about a supposed meeting planned between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin before February's elections.

Roderich Kiesewetter, a politician from the opposition CDU and a defence expert, suggested that Chancellor Olaf Scholz might meet with Putin before the early elections in Germany, scheduled for February 23.