Russia-Ukraine war updates for July 5, 2023

Andriy Yermak, a top advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said China’s reported opposition to Russia’s threats of nuclear force is “an important position.”

Posting on the Telegram messaging app, the head of the president’s office shared a screengrab of the Financial Times article reporting that Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a visit to Moscow in March, personally warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

— Elliot Smith

Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Moscow in March warned Vladimir Putin against the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported Wednesday citing western and Chinese officials.

Chinese officials have privately taken credit for the Kremlin backing away from veiled threats of nuclear force expressed earlier in the conflict, the sources said.

A senior advispr to the Chinese government also reportedly said the deterrence has been critical to Beijing’s hopes of repairing damaged relations with Europe.

Read more here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said late Tuesday that the country’s economy was exceeding expectations, following an update from Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

During a meeting at the Kremlin, Mishustin reported that GDP growth may top 2% in 2023 while inflation might not exceed 5% annually. The International Monetary Fund has projected 0.7% GDP growth this year after a 2.1% contraction in 2022.

According to a transcript on the Kremlin’s website, Putin said “at least for the time being” that the results were “better than previously expected, better than predicted.”

Russia has been on the receiving end of several waves of sweeping economic sanctions from Ukraine’s allies since the unprovoked invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

— Elliot Smith