NATO Foreign Ministers To Discuss China Dependency In Bucharest

NATO Foreign Ministers will meet in Bucharest, Romania on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, "to address Russia’s illegal war, NATO’s support for Kyiv and other partners, ways to strengthen resilience, and the challenges posed by China."

• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg previewed the ministerial: “NATO will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. We will not back down. It is in our security interest to support Ukraine.”
• Stoltenberg also identified China as a key challenge for the alliance: “The war in Ukraine has demonstrated our dangerous dependency on Russian gas, so we must assess our dependencies on other authoritarian regimes, not least China.”
• China Daily reported China Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian's response to Stoltenberg's comments: "Those who "draw lines" in the field of economic and trade cooperation according to different ideologies will shoot themselves in the foot."
• Prospective NATO members Finland and Sweden will join all ministerial discussions, with Turkey's pending ratification now the final obstacle to accession.
• Stoltenberg said: “It is time to finalise their accession process and welcome them as full-fledged members of our Alliance.”