NATO labels Russia ‘direct threat,’ China a challenger

(CN) — A new era of military tensions between the West and Russia and China was formally declared this week at a major NATO summit in Madrid where the world's largest military alliance laid out its goals for the coming years.

In a new document called a “Strategic Concept,” the 30-nation alliance declared Russia a “direct threat” and for the first time included China as a risk, a move that may lead the alliance to expand its mission far beyond its original purpose of defending Europe and North America.

The summit was dominated by the war in Ukraine, which is profoundly shaking world politics and economies while also dramatically increasing the risk of a major world war breaking out between nuclear superpowers.

For several years, experts have warned that a new Cold War has broken out as the rivalry intensifies between the United States and its Western allies and China and Russia. The war in Ukraine shows how risky this new superpower conflict has become.

Along with identifying Russia and China as adversaries, NATO members are boosting military spending and beefing up troop deployments along the borders with Russia. The United States also announced on Wednesday plans for a new permanent military base in Poland.

Another major development at the summit is the imminent inclusion of Finland and Sweden into the alliance, ending the neutral traditions of both Nordic countries. Finland has a 800-mile border with Russia. Sweden and Finland, both of which are strong militarily, were already coordinating with NATO but quickly acted to join the alliance following the Ukraine invasion.

The Kremlin has voiced strong opposition to NATO's expansion into Sweden and Finland and has warned of consequences. In response to NATO's moves in the Baltic Sea, Russia has reportedly sent Belarus nuclear weapons and moved heavier weapons into Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave surrounded by Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic. The enclave, which the Soviet Union seized at the end of World War II, has become a major source of tensions in recent days after Lithuania said it was barring Russian rail cargo from reaching Kaliningrad in accordance with European Union sanctions. The EU is reportedly discussing a mechanism to lift the ban on Russian rail cargo.

At the Madrid summit, NATO declared its intention to expand its mission beyond Europe and North America by confronting China, which it described as a global juggernaut and authoritarian state seeking to control “key technological and industrial sectors, critical infrastructure, and strategic materials and supply chains.”

In its new strategy road map, NATO said China’s “stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values.”

NATO said China is a risk because it is seeking to expand its “global footprint and project power” with “malicious hybrid and cyber operations” while also using “confrontational rhetoric and disinformation” that harms NATO.

“It strives to subvert the rules-based international order, including in the space, cyber and maritime domains,” NATO said. “The deepening strategic partnership between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rules-based international order run counter to our values and interests.”

In line with this new turn toward China and the Indo-Pacific, NATO for the first time invited the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan to attend an alliance summit.

In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin called NATO's new posture a threat to peace and he denounced the alliance as having “imperial ambitions.”

Putin and his inner circle see themselves as fighting against American hegemony and creating a “multipolar world.” Beijing also accuses the U.S. of seeking world domination at the expense of other powers.

“A multipolar system of international relations has been actively evolving,” Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, according to TASS, a Russian state news agency. “The process is irreversible, it has been unfolding in front of our eyes and it is objective in its nature.”

At a news conference in Minsk, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the NATO summit was further proof of the West's desire to control the world.

“They expect unconditional obedience from all states to their will, which reflects their egoistic interests – primarily, the U.S.’ interests,” Lavrov said, as reported by TASS.

At a news conference on Thursday in Madrid, U.S. President Joe Biden called the NATO summit “historic” and said the alliance was adapting to the threats posed by Russia and China.

He said Putin's decision to invade Ukraine was strengthening the alliance and spurring European nations long reluctant to spend money on their armies to boost their military budgets.

“Before the war started, I told Putin that if he invaded Ukraine, NATO would not only get stronger but get more united,” Biden said. “He tried to weaken us, he expected our resolve to fracture. But he's getting exactly what he did not want. He wanted the Finlandization of NATO. He got the NATO-ization of Finland.”

He praised European nations for upping their military spending to 2% of gross domestic product, a funding target set by NATO but long ignored by most European allies.

Military spending has long been a source of contention between the U.S. and Europe with former U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to blow up the alliance unless Europeans spent more on their armies. Biden praised Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania for meeting or exceeding that goal.

Twelve years ago when NATO last issued a strategic concept at a summit in Lisbon, fighting terrorism and extremist groups were seen as the principle threats and Russia was identified as a strategic partner and China was not mentioned at all.

But that 2010 document also included as a strategy the enlargement of NATO into Ukraine and Georgia, two former Soviet republics with deep significance to Russia and its security.

That decision to push NATO eastward – giving it a position of dominance on the Black Sea and encircling Russia – was furiously denounced by Putin. The Russian leader warned against such a move at a famous speech in 2007 at the Munich Security Conference. Before launching the Ukraine invasion, Putin demanded NATO renounce any plans to incorporate Ukraine and Georgia, an ultimatum that was rejected.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine the war continued to rage on Thursday with Russian and pro-Russian Ukrainian forces making new gains in their efforts to seize the eastern city of Lysychansk and other areas of the Donbas.

In a victory for Ukraine, Russian forces abandoned a strategic island off the coast of Odesa called Snake Island. The small island has been fought over since the outbreak of the war with both sides shelling it relentlessly.

Russia said its withdrawal from the island was meant as a “goodwill gesture” to help open up a corridor through the Black Sea for Ukrainian grain shipments.

But Russia likely gave up the territory because Ukraine reportedly has been striking the island using new medium-distance weapons it's received from the West.

Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.

Follow @cainburdeau

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