Did China rein in Putin's war in Ukraine?

 Newsmax:

China may have talked Russian President Vladimir Putin out of deploying nuclear weapons amid Russia's war against Ukraine, outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Financial Times on Friday.

China has tried to walk a diplomatic tightrope since the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While they have not officially endorsed Russia’s aggression, the U.S. has criticized China for providing material support in the form of dual-use items that Russia has used on the battlefield, including semiconductors, drone components, sensors, earthmovers, and nitrocellulose, an ingredient in rocket propellent.

Blinken told the outlet that China may have used its influence over Russian President Vladimir Putin to dial back his threats to use nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.

“We have reason to believe that China engaged Russia and said: 'Don't go there,” Blinken told the outlet, adding, “Even if the probability went from 5 to 15%, when it comes to nuclear weapons, nothing is more serious.”

The secretary of state also noted that China likely stepped in to persuade Putin not to launch a nuclear weapon into space. Tensions were raised further in November when Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike after the Biden administration permitted the use of its weapons to hit targets inside Russian territory.
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Putin's war in Ukraine has always appeared irrational to many in the West, and it is apparently seen that way in China too.  Ukraine was never a threat to Russia, but Putin was apparently angered by Ukraine's lack of support for his operations.