BRUSSELS. April 5 (Interfax) - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has discouraged China from providing lethal military aid to Russia, warning that this would have "profound implications" for Beijing.
"Allies have been clear that any provision of lethal aid by China to Russia would be a historic mistake, with profound implications," Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, following a two-day conference of the NATO foreign policy chiefs, which was joined by NATO's partners from the Asia-Pacific region on April 5.
Asked what specific "profound implications" might follow, Stoltenberg replied, "There will be severe consequences. I think there is no reason to go into details. But China knows that there will be severe consequences if they start to provide lethal aid to Russia."
"At a time when Beijing and Moscow are pushing back against the rules-based international order, it is even more important that we continue to stand together as NATO allies and with like-minded partners," he said.
The foreign ministers of the NATO member states discussed the events in Ukraine and closer ties between Russia and China with their partners from the Asia-Pacific region, i.e. Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, he said.
"Our support to Ukraine remains critical and it is in our shared security interest. We also discussed China's growing alignment with Russia," he said.