The Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, warned China last week against providing military aid to Moscow and noted that the alliance had seen indications that China was contemplating supplying weapons and artillery to Russia, Al Jazeera reports.
“We have seen some signs that they may be planning for that and of course, NATO allies, the United States, have been warning against it because this is something that should not happen. China should not support Russia’s illegal war,” Stoltenberg said.
Although the alliance doesn’t directly participate in the war, Stoltenberg maintains that NATO will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”
“On the question of supplies of military support from China to Russia, we have not seen any actual delivery of lethal aid,” Stoltenberg said, as reported by POLITICO.
The Secretary-General’s remarks come after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent warning to China regarding the potential repercussions of offering financial aid to Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.
“The concern that we have now is based on information we have that they’re considering providing lethal support, and we’ve made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship,” Blinken told news outlet CBS.
“It is the U.S., not China, that has been pouring weapons into the battlefield,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in a response to Blinken’s remarks. “The U.S. is in no position to tell China what to do.”
According to Al Jazeera, on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met in Moscow, with Putin lauding the significance of the two nations’ cooperation and drawing attention to their relationship amid growing international tensions.
Putin emphasized that the collaboration between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation was particularly crucial for stabilizing the global situation.
He also remarked that their ties had reached unprecedented levels, confirming that Chinese President Xi Jinping may soon visit Moscow for a summit, as the two leaders have held numerous meetings since Xi’s presidency began.
Despite Moscow’s invasion, which it refers to as a “special military operation,” Beijing has refrained from condemning Russia and the war.
