NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg issued an ultimatum for Beijing on Monday: have relations with Western countries or aid Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine.
His comments, which were at an event at the Wilson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, came as China has aided Russia’s defense industrial base, though there are disagreements between Western countries about whether Beijing has provided Russia with lethal aid.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping “has tried to create the impression that he is taking a back seat in this conflict, to avoid sanctions and keep trade flowing,” Stoltenberg said. “But the reality is that China is fueling the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, and at the same time, it wants to maintain good relations with the West.”
“Beijing cannot have it both ways. At some point, and unless China changes course, allies need to impose a cost. There should be consequences,” Stoltenberg added.
Beijing has aided Moscow’s efforts to evade sanctions and restore its defense industrial base to make up for the use of resources over the more than two years since Russia invaded Ukraine. The Russians expected the war to last only a matter of weeks.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated last month that the United States hasn’t seen evidence of China providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, though it has provided what he described as “critical inputs that have allowed Russia to accelerate its own production.”
In a follow-up private conversation with reporters, Stoltenberg acknowledged it is “too early” to determine the long-term implications of Beijing siding with the likes of Russia, Iran, and North Korea over the West.
“My message to allies is that, but also to Beijing, in the long run, they cannot continue propping up the most brutal war of aggression that has been seen in Europe since the Second World War,” he explained. “Being the main supporter of Russia’s war efforts in Europe, which is our most serious security challenge, and, at the same time, believe that they’re going to have a normal relationship with European allies.”
The alliance should consider the “costs and consequences” of China’s support for Russia’s war efforts during next month’s NATO summit in Washington, he said.
In addition to the 32 members of the NATO alliance, leaders from four Asia-Pacific countries will be in attendance for NATO’s 75th-anniversary summit: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.
The secretary-general is in Washington this week and will meet with President Joe Biden, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, and Blinken, among others.
Alternatively, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is expected to travel to North Korea later this week, which Stoltenberg said “demonstrates how close the alignment” between the two countries has become and that it shows Putin is “dependent” on “authoritarian leaders” for support.
Stoltenberg cautioned that Russia would likely use any decrease in its wartime objectives to reconstitute for future aggression, and he referenced Russia’s invasions of Georgia in 2008, Crimea in 2014, and further into Ukraine in 2022.
The best way, he argued, to ensure Ukraine does not fall victim to Russian aggression once this war ends is for Ukraine to get NATO membership. A major component of the alliance is Article 5, which means a member state considers an attack against one of the members as an attack against itself. So, if Ukraine were to join the alliance before the war is over, it would put the alliance squarely in conflict with Russia, and it is Stoltenberg’s belief that Ukraine should be admitted to NATO to prevent a future war once this one ends or pauses.
He also recently said the alliance was looking to deploy more of its nuclear weapons, given the current threat landscape.
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“I won’t go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues,” he told the Telegraph. “That’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The U.S. and NATO are working to ensure Ukraine has continued support, even as the U.S. and several European countries are about to have elections featuring candidates who may reduce or completely end support for Ukraine.