Relations with China were the second most discussed topic at the NATO summit, after the question of Ukraine's possible membership in the alliance.

The report said the alliance's statement revealed members' concern about China's strengthening of its nuclear arsenal and its efforts to control the region, as well as their concern about the rapprochement of Beijing and Moscow, stating that the "deep strategic partnership" between China and Russia "runs counter to NATO's values and interests."

In a speech after the first day of the summit, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg rejected the call China an "enemy", noting that the parties must continue to interact without denying the threat posed by China's growing influence to the security of NATO members.


The invitation to the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to attend the meeting in the Lithuanian capital was motivated by fears of a major conflict in East Asia if China tried to annex Taiwan by force.

China's response

In response to NATO's statement, China's diplomatic mission to the EU said the statement tarnishes China's policy and the country's reputation, highlighting that NATO is looking for pretexts for expansion in the Pacific.

Stoltenberg was clear in calling on NATO countries to intensify cooperation with partners in Asia in order to counter China, much to the chagrin of Beijing, which said through its Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin that NATO calls itself a regional organization yet goes beyond the traditional geographical scope and accelerates its expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.


"Combat coordination"

On the day Stoltenberg delivered his statement in the Lithuanian capital, Russian President Vladimir Putin was reportedly planning to visit China in the autumn, after receiving an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend the "One Belt One Road" summit in October.

Outgoing Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov said that Chinese President Xi Jinping confirmed in a meeting with Russian Federation Council President Valentina Matvienko that Beijing is preparing for Putin's arrival.

Yuri Tafrovsky, a Russian lecturer at the University of Friendship with Peoples, said that the Chinese president's visit to Moscow last March can be considered "combat coordination," pointing to the multiple visits of senior officials in the two countries after the Putin-Ping summit.

According to Tavrovsky, following the upcoming October meeting between Putin and Xi Jinping, "combat coordination" will accelerate further as the West's anti-China agenda in East Asia accelerates.


Alexander Lukin, scientific director of the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, highlighted that Beijing adopts Moscow's thesis that NATO's eastward expansion led to the Ukrainian conflict, although Beijing has called for stopping the conflict in Ukraine and searching for a peaceful solution to the crisis.

The wording for opening a NATO office in Tokyo disappeared from the draft final communiqué of the Vilnius summit, and the paragraph on negotiations with Japan on the issue was omitted from the statement, after France objected to opening a NATO office in the Japanese capital.

Russian political expert Kirill Kukish believes that refraining from opening an office is a temporary matter due to the failure of the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian armed forces.