“The path to peace goes through more weapons” in kyiv, says NATO chief

Threatening China with consequences, Jens Stoltenberg accused Beijing of “[alimenter] the largest armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War, while wanting to “maintain good relations with the West”, during a trip to the United States.

Visiting Washington, where he is preparing the Atlantic Alliance summit which will be held in July in the American capital, the Secretary General of NATO spoke on Monday June 17 on the situation in Ukraine. “It may seem like a paradox, but the path to peace goes through more weapons to Ukraine”, declared Jens Stoltenberg, in a speech in front of the Wilson Center, a think tank. In his sights: Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The latter strives “to give the impression that it is standing back in this conflict, in order to avoid sanctions and maintain trade flows. But the reality is that China is fueling the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II and that at the same time, it wants to maintain good relations with the West”, said Jens Stoltenberg.

“At some point, and unless China changes course, allies must impose a cost. There should be consequences,” thus pleaded the head of NATO.

NATO, with the United States in the lead, is increasingly criticizing aid to the Russian war effort provided by China and its companies, which supply components and equipment supporting the military sector. Russian weaponry, with an impact on the battlefield in Ukraine. Even if, for its part, China denies directly supplying weapons to Russia.

Denouncing the upcoming visit Tuesday and Wednesday of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang, North Korea, the head of NATO estimated that this trip “shows how dependent President Putin and Moscow are now on authoritarian countries around the world,” he told reporters.

He notably relied on figures cited by South Korean intelligence services, according to which North Korea has already delivered a million shells to Russia. “This flow of weapons continues,” said Jens Stoltenberg. “We see them loading the wagons and crossing the border between North Korea and Russia.”