Stoltenberg continued his propagandizing against Russia, Belarus and China in an interview published this morning in Welt am Sonntag. “We are of course ready, in an emergency, to protect and defend any ally against any kind of threat coming from Minsk and Moscow,” Stoltenberg said in the context of the May 23 Ryanair incident in Minsk. Stoltenberg stated NATO is monitoring “what is happening in Belarus very closely,” and that, “We have had to learn in the past that Russia has massively violated the territorial integrity of states such as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.” NATO has observed greater cooperation between Moscow and Minsk in recent months, with Minsk “increasingly dependent” on Moscow.
Stoltenberg told Welt am Sonntag that Belarus will be on the agenda of the upcoming NATO summit in one week’s time. He further said the current partnership agreement with Belarus is also being scaled back and reevaluated.
Stoltenberg also claimed that closer Russian-Chinese cooperation is “a new dimension and a serious challenge” for the North Atlantic Alliance. “We consider that Russia and China have developed closer political and military cooperation lately,” Stoltenberg said. According to him, Moscow and Beijing are more often coordinating their steps in international organizations, including in the United Nations. “By the way, both countries conduct joint maneuvers, long-distance flights of warplanes and maritime operations, and also actively exchange experience in the field of using military systems and control over the Internet,” the NATO chief said.
In its relations with Russia, the Alliance will stick to the strategy “of containment and dialogue,” Stoltenberg said. “On the other hand, in challenging times we should maintain contact with our neighbor Russia on the issues of arms control and other military and political challenges. If we do not talk to each other, we won’t be able to iron out our differences or improve mutual understanding,” he stated. As I’ve noted before, NATO doesn’t “dialogue,” it lectures, and this is why the Russians won’t talk to NATO unless the Alliance treats Russia as an equal, which so far it hasn’t done.
Touching on China, the NATO chief declared that the Alliance’s member-states would seek to boost cooperation with the countries of the Pacific region. China’s rise represents “a fundamental change in the global balance of powers,” he pointed out.
