NTI Board members Mullen, Nunn, and Moniz on “What Xi Must Tell Putin Now”

In a new Washington Post op-ed headlined “What Xi Must Tell Putin Now,” NTI Board members Mike Mullen, Sam Nunn, and Ernest J. Moniz call on China to wield its “unique position of influence” to encourage more “rational” decision-making by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The terrible concoction of conscription, annexation and nuclear weapons that Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered last week presents a crucial test to every major world leader,” they write. “Global outrage is needed, but the spotlight now shines brightest on China’s President Xi Jinping. He needs to step forward in pressing Putin to de-escalate and end this war, especially since Russian miscalculations are forcing major geopolitical decisions, specifically security challenges in Asia.”

Specifically, the authors say Xi “must make clear to Putin that nuclear use is a line he must not cross, and nuclear saber-rattling itself threatens the global nuclear order,” they write. Further, “the nightmare scenario of nuclear weapon use in the war in Ukraine is relentlessly coming into sharper focus, and a decision by any country to stand on the sidelines should be viewed as an act of complicity.”

Read the full op-ed here.