Stoltenberg calls on the West to punish China for its support of Russia

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday called for China to blame the consequences if it continues to support Russia, accusing Beijing of exacerbating the war in Ukraine while seeking to improve relations with the West.

Stoltenberg stressed at the Wilson Center in Washington, “China can’t get both… At some point, the West will have to make China pay a price unless China changes course… There must be consequences”.

Stoltenberg also said continued Western arms sending was vital to peace in Ukraine, after Kiev refused to bow to Russia’s demands.

Stoltenberg said at the Wilson Center during a visit to Washington, “It may seem contradictory, but the way to peace is to send more weapons to Ukraine”.

Russia’s Kremlin presidency said on Monday that comments by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg about talks to deploy more nuclear weapons represented an escalation of tensions.

Stoltenberg told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper that NATO was in talks to deploy more nuclear weapons, remove them from warehouses and put them on standby, in the face of a growing threat from Russia and China.

On the other hand, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Stoltenberg’s comments appeared to contradict the Ukraine conference statement, which said any threat or use of nuclear weapons in relation to what was happening in Ukraine was unacceptable.

The talks, at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, were described as a peace summit despite Moscow’s lack of invitation.

Peskov said of Stoltenberg’s remarks, “This is just another escalation of tension”.

NATO later sought clarification of Stoltenberg’s comments, saying there had been no major changes in its nuclear posture.

NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said, “NATO is committed to ensuring sound, secure and effective nuclear deterrence”.

“For that purpose, we have an ongoing modernization program to replace outdated weapons and aircraft”.

Russia says the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of a nuclear confrontation by giving Ukraine billions of dollars in weapons, some of which are used to attack Russian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia is technically prepared for nuclear war and that Moscow could use nuclear weapons to defend itself in the most difficult circumstances.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, Russia and the United States are by far the world’s two largest nuclear powers, possessing about 88% of the world’s nuclear weapons.

According to the Journal of Atomic Scientists, the United States has about 100 non-strategic B-61 nuclear weapons deployed in five European countries: Italy, Germany, Türkiye, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The United States has another 100 such weapons within its borders.

Russia has about 1,558 non-strategic nuclear warheads, although arms control experts say it is extremely difficult to determine the number of such warheads because of the confidentiality of the data.