The head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, said at the NATO Summit that the US will not be involved in the war in Ukraine but will continue to support Kyiv. According to him, after Putin invaded Ukraine NATO became “bigger than ever.”
Austin continued by saying, “And make no mistake: Putin’s war is not the result of NATO expansion, but instead, NATO expansion is due to Putin’s war”.
Meanwhile, the NATO Summit Declaration identified the countries it considers Russia’s allies in the war. The document mentions Belarus, which provides access to its territory and infrastructure, North Korea and Iran, which are fueling the war by giving Moscow ammunition and drones.
At the same time, China was named the leading player in the Russian-Ukrainian war by the Alliance due to its “boundless” partnership with Russian and its large-scale support of Russia’s defense and industrial base, in particular by supplying dual-purpose goods. China’s confrontation with NATO also manifests itself outside the Russian war in Ukraine.
China rejected the accusations and called the Alliance to “stay as far away from Asia as possible.”