NATO needs to update its strategic concept over Russia, China: Stoltenberg

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance needs to update its decade-old strategic concept to take into account what he called Russia’s aggressive attitude and the rise of China.

The NATO chief made the comment on Wednesday, the first day of the two-day virtual summit of the heads of the alliance’s defense ministers.

He said NATO’s 2010 Strategic Concept required an update because it did not match the new “security environment” in the world.

“I propose to the heads of state and government, when they meet here later this year, that they should agree to update NATO’s Strategic Concept… We have a strategic concept we agreed back in 2010, and that concept actually serves us well, but since then, the security environment we face has fundamentally changed,” Stoltenberg said.

He claimed that back in 2010, NATO was working to establish a strategic relationship with Moscow, but since then, “things have fundamentally changed.” He accused Russia of adopting an “aggressive” attitude toward its neighbors, including “the illegal annexation of Crimea.”

Relations between Moscow and the rest of Europe have particularly deteriorated since 2014, when the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea voted in a referendum to fall under Russian sovereignty. The West branded the reunification as the forced annexation of Ukrainian land by Russia.

Stoltenberg also said that the current strategic concept of NATO failed to address what he called the shifting balance of power and the security consequences of “the rise of China.”

“So we need to update our strategic concept, we need to recommit to our core values and we need to use it to further strengthen the bond between North America and Europe,” the NATO chief said.

NATO preparing for major conflict: Russian general

A senior Russian military general says the US-led NATO military alliance is preparing its forces for a major conflict, citing an increase in NATO’s war games close to Russian borders in the region.

US to resume support of NATO against Russia, China: US defense secretary

During the same ministerial meeting on Wednesday and in his first appearance on the world stage, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed that Washington wanted to “revitalize” its strained relations with NATO, which came under repeated attacks by former President Donald Trump during the past four years.

“Secretary Austin emphasized that NATO’s most important task is protecting our populations and territories by presenting credible deterrence and a strong military,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters about the message Austin conveyed to the virtual summit.

The new US defense secretary also hinted that it was time to worry more about China and particularly Russia.

He also emphasized that NATO needed to protect supply chains and technologies from “strategic competitors.”

Ahead of the virtual summit, Austin wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that the US would resume its full support of the military alliance and maintain its traditional role in defending Europe.

“For the Defense Department, this means fielding a credible force, ready to back up the hard work of diplomacy. It also means working closely with our allies and partners to secure our common interests and promote our shared values abroad. Simply put, we cannot meet our responsibilities alone, nor should we try,” Austin wrote.

The American defense minister demonized Russia and China and depicted them as “aggressive” competitors.

“Aggressive and coercive behaviors from emboldened strategic competitors such as China and Russia reinforce our belief in collective security,” Austin wrote, describing Russia as an explicit “threat” to all NATO member states, including the US.

Russia has time and again denounced the US and NATO approach, stressing that it will plunge the world in another Cold War.

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