WASHINGTON -- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 17 that China was providing technology to Russia that is prolonging its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and called on Beijing to face the consequences of this support.
"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 said at the Wilson Center in Washington.
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Stoltenberg said that in the past two years 90 percent of Russian microelectronics originated in China, and that China was working to improve Russian satellite capabilities.
"Threats are not regional," Stoltenberg said. "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."
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also said China was continuing to provide Russia with components for military equipment and weapon systems.
Speaking at a briefing on June 17, he said microelectronics had helped "shore up...what would have been a truly crumbling Russian defense industrial base." Kirby added that the United States had raised the issue with China.
Stoltenberg noted that NATO faces threats from China related to Russia along with threats from China related to the Indo-Pacific and the Arctic.
Russia has also built up relations with North Korea, and on June 17 the Kremlin announced that President Vladimir Putin will embark on a two-day visit to North Korea starting on June 18. Putin is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks focused on expanding military cooperation.
The deepening relationship is a concern for the United States, Kirby said.
"We know North Korean ballistic missiles are being used to hit Ukrainian targets," he said.
Both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied accusations about North Korean weapons transfers, which would be in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Stoltenberg said the "growing alignment between Russia and its authoritarian friends in Asia makes it even more important that we work closely with our friends in the Indo-Pacific."
Non-NATO members Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand will attend the July 9-11 NATO summit in Washington as observers.
The secretary-general said Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine will be the "most urgent topic" for discussion at the summit, along with NATO defense spending.
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Stoltenberg said he will announce new defense-spending figures for NATO allies later on June 17 when he meets U.S. President Joe Biden.
"This year, more than 20 allies spent at least 2 percent of GDP on defense," Stoltenberg said, previewing the announcement.
The increase in defense spending has bolstered Ukraine's defense capabilities, according to Stoltenberg, adding that the path to peace is more weapons for Ukraine.
Defense spending by many European countries has risen sharply since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and NATO officials have been keen to stress that its European members are now stepping up to the plate.
Although Ukraine will not become a member of the alliance at the Washington summit, Stoltenberg said NATO will "build a bridge" to future membership for Ukraine and praised the NATO-Ukraine Council set up last year at the summit in Vilnius.
"We are helping to ensure that the Ukrainian armed forces are more and more interoperable with NATO, meet NATO standards, and meet NATO doctrines," Stoltenberg said. "The idea is to move them so close to membership that when we reach a consensus, we can make them members straight away."
In his remarks at the Wilson Center, Stoltenberg did not mention earlier comments reported by The Telegraph that NATO is in talks to deploy more nuclear weapons.
The British newspaper quoted Stoltenberg as saying that the weapons would be taken out of storage and placed on standby.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the comments "nothing but another escalation of tension," saying they appeared to contradict the communique of the Ukraine Conference that said any threat or use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine context was inadmissible.