NATO went after both Russia and China on Wednesday, first demanding that China stop the spread of “blatant lies and misinformation,” then warning Russia to stop its “nuclear saber-rattling.”
Historically, such warnings from NATO have been little more than words that have changed less than zero, and given the unpredictability of Vladimir Putin–particularly now that he’s backed into a corner of his own making and Beijing’s increasing belligerent posture during the Biden presidency–it’s hard to see, to paraphrase Hillary, what difference any of it will now make.
As reported by Fox News, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters such talk of nuclear war is “dangerous” and “irresponsible.”
Russia should stop nuclear saber-rattling. This dangerous and irresponsible behavior is unacceptable. The nature of conflict will be fundamentally changed by any use of nuclear arms. Russia must also understand that nuclear war is never a viable option. A nuclear war will not be won by them.
Stoltenberg then admonished China for, in effect, Beijing’s hypocrisy.
In a security context that is changing fundamentally, authoritarian power are more likely to resort to violence to their advantage. Beijing joins Moscow in challenging the freedom of countries to decide their own course. China provided Russia political support by spreading lies and misinformation, as well as spreading deplorable fabrications.
U.S. security officials have increasingly warned that China may look to provide material support to Russia – a move Biden warned against during his call with Xi Jinping last week. RedState’s Dennis Santiago provided an excellent analysis of the call, while I — being the skeptic I am — remain of the opinion that Xi continues to play Biden like a cheap fiddle.
According to China’s Foreign Ministry (see “analysis” link, above), Xi talked with Biden about “upholding international law and universally recognized norms governing international relations,” and how “China does not want to see the situation in Ukraine to come to this.”
Meanwhile:
“Chinese state media is pushing pro-Russian misinformation worldwide,” Foreign Policy’s headline read. As reported by the New York Times in early March, Chinese diplomats and state media organizations continually repeated Russia’s disinformation campaign that falsely claimedPentagon had been financing the Ukrainian biological weapons laboratory. (It wasn’t only China that glommed out those reports and ran with them.)
And in classic Kremlin fashion, Moscow has accused Washington and Kyiv of planning to use chemical weapons against Russian forces as they remain stalled across Ukraine, nearly five weeks after the war began — as a pretext to Russian use of tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine. As noted by Fox News, Stoltenberg shot down the accusation as “absolutely false,” as he reiterated NATO’s increasing concern over the rhetoric.
This could be an attempt to give them a reason to use chemical weapons. Chemical weapons can completely change the dynamics of conflict. It will also be an abominable violation of international law. This will lead to a consensus. Any use of chemical weapons is absolutely unacceptable.”
So, as an increasingly impotent Biden travels to Poland on Wednesday, to begin the first leg of a hastily-arranged visit to Europe to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with NATO and European allies, NATO has issued a few warnings to the bad guys of its own.
The question is, will those warnings be any more effective than Biden’s sanctions? You can guess my answer.
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