NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg considers cooperation between China and Russia a danger to the West.

He also urged Westerners and especially the member countries of the Atlantic Pact to prepare for the new era of global competition between systems and to be ready to defend themselves in case of emergency. The NATO headquarters in Brussels is still closed to the public due to the pandemic.

Stoltenberg said that cooperation between Russia and China threatens the world order established by Western countries. “They are united by the fact that they want a different world order. The fact is that they do not share our values and are trying to defend interests that violate our faith in freedom and democracy. In this dangerous world, the countries of the alliance must remain united,” the secretary said at a conference in Norway.

As Stoltenberg noted, “the main proof of the unification of the two states was Beijing’s refusal to condemn the Russian special operation in Ukraine.” “On the contrary, China is promoting the Russian narrative, blaming NATO for the current situation and for the first time supported Russia’s demand that the alliance close its doors to new members,” the secretary general said.

Stoltenberg then underlined the deepening of relations between Moscow and Beijing in the military and economic fields. On the eve of the new year, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping held talks via video link. The Chinese president, in particular, said that “Beijing is ready to strengthen strategic cooperation with Moscow and work with it to protect the sovereignty and security of the two countries”.

Putin, for his part, noted that the importance of the strategic partnership between Russia and China as a stabilizing factor is growing in the context of growing geopolitical tensions. In his opinion, the coordination of Moscow and Beijing serves to create a “just world order”.