Washington (EFE)
Stoltenberg made these remarks online at the opening session of NATO’s annual conference on arms control and nuclear non-proliferation, which is being held this week in Washington.
The NATO chief said he does not consider China “an adversary” of the Alliance, but “a challenge”, since it is investing in long-range missiles and has tripled the number of nuclear warheads in a few years.
Verifiable limits on nuclear arsenals
“Having verifiable limits on nuclear arsenals, with predictability and transparency, is something that interests us all. Therefore, China should be willing to sit down and participate in more arms control agreements,” he indicated.
Stoltenberg opined that China should put “limits on the number of nuclear warheads”, and also pointed out as a challenge the use of new military technology by the Asian giant, including artificial intelligence, for which he called for establishing shared controls.
“NATO is determined to develop universal standards for the responsible use of new technologies in the military field,” he insisted.
The world is at a “crossroads”
The Norwegian politician considered that the world is at a “crossroads” that could lead to a “collapse” of the international order with “profound and dangerous consequences”,
And he stressed that we must bet on an “alternative path” that guarantees global security. “It won’t be easy or fast, but we have to do it,” he declared.
At the same conference, the “number two” of the US State Department, Wendy Sherman, who hosted the event, accused Chinese President Xi Jining of “trying to upset the rules of international order.”
He warned that the world is in a “very dangerous and uncertain” moment, in which “many people are thinking about whether they should acquire nuclear weapons.”
For this reason, the Undersecretary of the Department of State sees it as “vital” that all the countries that maintain relations with China press for the Asian giant to increase “transparency” about its nuclear arsenal.
Sherman affirmed that the Government of Joe Biden does not seek direct “conflict” with China, but does “compete” with that country through fair and equitable regulations.
“We will invest within our country to have the resilience, the supply chains and the technology that we need,” he remarked.
Rule out nuclear response to shipment of tactical weapons to Belarus
Stoltenberg says they are monitoring the Kremlin’s deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, but has ruled out an atomic response by the Atlantic Alliance for now.
“We are watching very closely what they are doing. We are vigilant, but so far we have not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture that would require altering our nuclear posture,” he stated.
Stoltenberg said that the deployment of weapons in Belarus by Russia is a “pattern” that has been repeated for years, but especially since Russian President Vladimir Putin increased his “dangerous and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric” in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.