Nuclear weapons must not be used over Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday, offering Beijing's clearest response yet to Russia's invasion of the former Soviet state, amid mounting concerns that the war might go nuclear.

"The international community should ... jointly oppose the use or threats to use nuclear weapons, advocate that nuclear weapons must not be used and nuclear wars must not be fought, in order to prevent a nuclear crisis in Eurasia," Xi said during a meeting in Beijing with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Xinhua's readout of the meeting did not target any country for criticism nor mention Russia.

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