Coming to the defense of one of its closest allies, the Kremlin said that it was unhappy about the NATO Chief’s statement suggesting China was fueling the biggest-ever war in Europe.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s comments against China have not pleased the Kremlin. When asked to evaluate the NATO chief’s claims that Beijing is allegedly starting the largest conflict in Europe since World War II, Peskov answered “negatively.”
Peskov also emphasized, “We are confident that our Chinese friends can themselves provide a proper evaluation of such statements.”
Earlier, Stoltenberg told Yomiuri that NATO believes China is undermining its interests and ideals. The head of NATO also charged China with supporting Russia militarily. The NATO Chief has been emphasizing that Beijing’s providing military aid to Moscow would be responsible for igniting the worst crisis in Europe since the Second World War.
The Kremlin’s blatant dismissal of NATO’s chief remarks against China comes at a time when the two countries are constantly strengthening cooperation, especially in the wake of isolation and international sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Earlier, China joined Russia in criticizing Japan’s drills with NATO countries, including Germany and Spain. The drills took place on the Hokkaido island in northern Japan, which is close to Russia’s Far East.
Following Russia’s protests over the drills, which it said threatened national security, the Chinese state-owned Global Times published a report quoting Chinese analysts who claimed that China was also a target of the drills, which were being manipulated by the United States.
Stoltenberg’s Constant Rebuttal Of China’s Purported Aid
The NATO chief has condemned China’s alleged military support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine for several months. In June 2024, while speaking at an event hosted by the NATO Association of Canada and the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association, Stoltenberg said China has falsely taken a back seat in the Ukraine War even though it was supplying aid to Russia, a move vociferously opposed by NATO Alliance.
At the time, Stoltenberg said: “Publicly, President Xi has tried to create the impression that he is taking a back seat in the conflict in Ukraine. To avoid sanctions and keep trade flowing. But the reality is that China is
the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War Two. And at the same time, it wants to maintain good relations with the West.” “Well, Beijing cannot have it both ways.”
He further added, “Beijing is sharing high-end technologies like semiconductors and other dual-use items. Last year, Russia imported 90 percent of its microelectronics from China, used to produce missiles, tanks, and aircraft. China is also working to provide Russia with improved satellite capability and imagery.”
Without providing evidence to back his allegations, Stoltenberg said that NATO needed to impose a cost on China unless it changed its ways. “At some point – and unless China changes course – Allies need to impose a cost.”
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Similar accusations have been leveled by the United States. In April this year, the ambassador to NATO told POLITICO in an interview that China is assisting Russia in achieving its war objectives in Ukraine by continuing to supply Moscow with items like gunpowder ingredients and drone technology.
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] cannot claim to be entirely neutral in this case, [and] they are picking a side,” Julianne Smith told POLITICO. “I think when the PRC tries to portray itself as neutral when it comes to this war, we don’t buy it.”
Without mincing words, Smith said that the United States was “increasingly seeing materiel support” from China to Russia and that some of Moscow’s goals against Ukraine had been achieved with assistance from their equipment, which allegedly had both military and civilian applications.
Further, even Britain accused China of supplying aid to Russia, defying all warnings from the West. In May 2024, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps charged that China was either supplying or getting ready to supply Russia with deadly assistance to employ in its conflict with Ukraine.
Speaking at a conference in London that US and British defense intelligence, Shapps said his country had evidence that “lethal aid is now, or will be, flowing from China to Russia and into Ukraine, I think it is a significant development”. However, he stopped short of turning over the evidence to support the allegations.
China continues to counter the allegations. Liu Pengyu, press secretary for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, claimed that the US was disseminating false information regarding China’s military assistance to Russia.
China has also accused the US of imposing unilateral sanctions on the pretext that Beijing has ties to Russia’s defense industrial complex and maintains that it has the right to trade and economic cooperation.