NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was in Washington, yesterday, where he met with President Joe Biden at the White House. The White House released a readout afterwards which contained no content of their discussions.
Prior to that, Stoltenberg delivered a speech at the Wilson Center in which, among other things, he fingered China as NATO’s main enemy. “The war in Ukraine demonstrates that our security is not regional, it is global, not least because of the support we know Russia is getting from China and others,” he said. He claimed that China’s support “enables Moscow to inflict more death and destruction on Ukraine, bolster Russia’s defense industrial base, and evade the impact of sanctions and export controls.” The reality, he further claimed, “is that China is fueling 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. At some point—and unless China changes course—Allies need to impose a cost.”
