China rejects NATO claim that it was a “key enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine

China rejected the notion that it supported Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine on July 11 and called NATO’s accusation “provocative.”

A day earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance’s members agreed that China was a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A joint statement by NATO members also mentioned that China poses a threat to the interests and security of the alliance. According to Stoltenberg, this is “the first time that all NATO members have expressed this so clearly in an agreed document.”

In a statement, the Chinese mission to the EU said the NATO statement was “permeated by the Cold War mentality and warlike rhetoric”.

“The paragraphs on China are a provocation full of obvious lies and slander. We firmly reject and condemn these allegations. We have lodged a serious complaint with NATO.”

“We do not supply lethal weapons to any party to the conflict and maintain strict export controls on dual-use goods, including civilian drones,” the spokesman continued.

China maintains a neutral position in the ongoing war but has deepened its economic ties with Russia and has become Moscow’s main supplier of dual-use goods that supply the Russian defense industry.

The Chinese leadership had previously denied supporting either side of the war and claimed that its relations with Russia did not go beyond the limits of a “normal” relationship. At the same time, however, it stressed its close partnership with Moscow.

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