Stoltenberg: Authoritarian powers more aligned amid war in Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, whose term of office in this post expires on October 1, stated this in an interview with the British newspaper The Times, Ukrinform reports.

"We see how authoritarian powers are aligning more and more. We see that clearly demonstrated in the war, in Russia's war against Ukraine, where they all provide significant mutual support," he said.

Stoltenberg warned that since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Beijing, Moscow, Tehran and Kim Jong-un's hermit regime in North Korea were becoming "more and more aligned."

According to him, at the head of this alliance is President Xi, with China the "decisive enabler" of Putin. This support for Russia from the regimes in the mentioned countries continues to increase.

"China is a decisive enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine. China is upholding Russia's war economy, and China is delivering the components, the micro-electronics, the micro-processors that Russia is using to build the missiles and the bombs they're using in Ukraine," he said.

Western officials fear that by giving key weapons components to Putin, who is isolated by western sanctions, Beijing has gained the technology it needs for military dominance. Stoltenberg confirmed that Moscow was giving China knowhow after officials in Washington said Russia was providing advanced submarine, missile and stealth capabilities to Beijing.

"Beijing has stopped short of supplying Russia with conventional weapons, however. Britain’s foreign intelligence agency, MI6, and its US equivalent, the CIA, see the rise of China as the main intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the century," The Times reports.

The news outlet recalled that this month, Russia received a shipment of more than 200 ballistic missiles from Iran at a port on the Caspian Sea.

"Iran has provided Russia with ballistic missiles. Of course, there is a risk that they will provide even more. Russia is not getting this for free. We are concerned that it may also be possible that Russia is sharing technology that will help Iran with their missile programs. But anyway, Russia is then paying for what they get, and that is strengthening Iran's capabilities," Stoltenberg said.

At the same time, according to the article, the Iranian shipment has alarmed the US and UK who are concerned Russia may have, in return, shared secret information and technology that could bring Iran closer to being able to build nuclear weapons.

Putin, meanwhile, is accelerating his war effort. The Kremlin said this week that Russia is boosting the size of its army by 180,000 soldiers to a total of 1.5 million troops. The move would see Russia's army overtake the United States and India to become the second largest in the world after China, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Photo: nato.int