NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that the alliance is “increasingly concerned” that China may provide Russia with weapons for its ongoing war with neighboring Ukraine.
Speaking at a joint news conference, Stoltenberg said Russia has shown no signs of ending its war with Ukraine. He cited how Russia has launched new offensives, mobilized more troops for and has reached out to other countries to provide aid and resources, such as North Korea and Iran, as examples.
“We are also increasingly concerned that China may be planning to provide lethal support for Russia’s war,” Stoltenberg said in his opening remarks. “Putin must not win. That would show that aggression works and force is rewarded. It would be dangerous for our own security, and for the whole world.”
Stoltenberg — who was joined by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell at the news conference — added that it is urgent for NATO allies to deliver on their pledges to send additional weaponry and resources to Ukraine.
“So we must sustain and step up our support for Ukraine. We must give Ukraine what they need to win,” Stoltenberg added. “And prevail as a sovereign independent nation in Europe.”
His remarks came after comments made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week, where he claimed that China is “strongly considering” providing Russia with “lethal assistance” for its war with Ukraine, adding that he warned his Beijing counterpart against making that move.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield also warned China that there will be “consequences” if they provide lethal aid to Russia, noting that the U.S. has already communicated ramifications to Beijing if it were to happen.
“China is trying to have it both ways,” Blinken said on Sunday during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”
“Publicly, they present themselves as a country striving for peace in Ukraine,” he continued. “But privately, as I said, we’ve seen already over these past months the provision of non-lethal assistance that does go directly to aiding and abetting Russia’s war effort.”
Chinese officials have now hit back against those claims. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin argued during a press briefing on Monday that it is the U.S. that has been too involved by pouring its own weapons and resources in aid of Ukraine throughout the duration of the conflict.
“It is the U.S., not China, that has been pouring weapons into the battlefield,” he said.
“The U.S. is in no position to tell China what to do. We would never stand for finger-pointing, or even coercion and pressurizing from the U.S. on our relations with Russia,” Wang added, noting that Beijing is on the side of “peace and dialogue.”