The U.S. secretary of state told the Financial Times that pressure from Beijing dissuaded Vladimir Putin from using nuclear weapons.

"We have reason to believe that China engaged Russia and said: 'Don't go there,'" outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Financial Times on Jan. 3.

Russia considered a nuclear strike on Ukraine. China has warned Moscow against using nuclear weapons, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Financial Times. He notes the United States was “very concerned” because Russian President Vladimir Putin was probably considering a nuclear option against Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues seeking to expand his challenge of the West's order — this time in tech. The Russian leader has ordered his government and Russian banking giant Sberbank to work with China on artificial intelligence,

Putin directs collaboration with China on AI, addressing hardware shortages amid U.S. sanctions, highlighting Russia's tech challenges.

President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia's government and the country's biggest bank, Sberbank , to build cooperation with China in artificial intelligence.