China has key role to play in avoiding nuclear escalation, France’s Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that China has an important role to play in avoiding nuclear escalation, after Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike.

Macron met with China’s President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro as part of the G20 summit, and said he asked him to put pressure on Putin to end the war with Ukraine. He also called for Putin to show “reason.”

Macron said North Korea’s decision to send troops to fight in Ukraine had raised the stakes for China, and that it should push for a de-escalation after Putin’s decision to change Russia’s nuclear doctrine.

Putin approved the change as Ukraine used US ATACMS missiles to strike deeper into Russian territory, taking advantage of newly granted permission from the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden on the war’s 1,000th day.

Macron, speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the summit, said he would invite US President-elect Donald Trump and US billionaire ally Elon Musk to France in February for an artificial intelligence summit.

He also said he was confident a trade dispute with China that is affecting France’s cognac producers can be resolved positively, adding that Prime Minister Michel Barnier would travel to China next year.