NATO denounces China as ‘decisive promoter’ of Russia’s war in Ukraine | Wilnesh News

In NATO’s strongest rebuke of China yet, the military alliance called Beijing a “decisive enabler” in Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and expressed concern about its nuclear arsenal and “systemic challenges” to NATO security.

“Through its so-called ‘unrestricted’ partnership and massive support for Russia’s defense industrial base, the People’s Republic of China has become a decisive driver of Russia’s war in Ukraine,” NATO issued a communiqué on Wednesday sayinga day after a Washington summit celebrating the alliance’s 75th anniversary^th anniversary.

The alliance further called on Beijing to “cease all material and political support for Russia’s war effort,” specifically citing the transfer of “dual-use materials, such as weapons parts, equipment and raw materials as inputs to the Russian defense sector.” For the first time, NATO has explicitly accused Xi Jinping’s government of providing military aid to Moscow.

Beijing has repeatedly denied providing arms to Russia in the Ukraine war, but the two countries have maintained close trade ties throughout the conflict, even as Moscow has found itself increasingly isolated from the West or under outright sanctions from the West. Earlier this week, Beijing began holding joint military exercises with Belarus, a close Russian ally, at a training range just miles from the Polish border, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said in a statement translated by Google. telegram post.

In February 2023, on the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine, China proposed a peace framework for the conflict between Moscow—a month later, it successfully used the goodwill it had earned as a trading partner to broker a reconciliation between. Like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s peace plan and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s recent conditions for launching diplomatic talks, they have so far failed to gain support.

After years of velvet glove diplomacy and treating China as a distant concern, NATO said on Wednesday that Beijing “continues to pose a systemic challenge to Euro-Atlantic security”, highlighting what it called disinformation about the world’s second-largest economy and its activities .

“The People’s Republic of China continues to rapidly expand and diversify its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and more advanced delivery systems. We urge the People’s Republic of China to engage in discussions to reduce strategic risks and promote stability through transparency,” the NATO communiqué said. , and warned the allies to simultaneously increase “common awareness” and strengthen preparations to guard against China’s “coercive tactics and efforts to split the alliance.”

CNBC has contacted China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China’s Mission to the EU Sternly Hits Back explain The NATO statement “hype-sports China-Russia relations, weakens and reshapes the rules-based international order” and is “full of Cold War mentality and bellicose rhetoric.”

The statement also said that the China-related paragraphs are provocative and are obviously lies and smears. We firmly reject and are strongly dissatisfied with these accusations and have made solemn representations to NATO.