Scholz: Risk of Russia using nuclear weapons has diminished, for now

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivers his speech before he hands over the Marion Doenhoff Prize for international understanding and reconciliation to Russian Irina Sherbakova, co-founder of Russian rights group Memorial, during the award ceremony in Hamburg, Germany, December 4, 2022. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

BERLIN (Reuters) - The risk of Russian President Vladimir President Putin using nuclear weapons as part of his war in Ukraine has decreased in response to international pressure, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published on Thursday.

The war was continuing with "undiminished brutality" though, for now, one thing had changed, Scholz told Funke media in an interview to mark his first year in office.