The Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman has rejected Mark Rutte’s claim that Russia and China are plotting to “undermine global rules”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is applying double standards by claiming that Moscow is conspiring with China and other nations to “undermine global rules,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
In a post on her Telegram channel on Thursday, Zakharova inquired “what ‘global rules’” Rutte was referring to, calling on NATO to post a “full list” on its website. She further pointed out that the military bloc itself has a track record of breaking international law. The Russian diplomat cited the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 on fabricated pretexts, as prime examples.
Zakharova stressed that no NATO member states have stopped cooperation with China, despite Rutte’s claims.
“The other day, a US-China summit was held – I didn’t hear Rutte criticize US President [Donald Trump] for that,” she pointed out.
Speaking at the NATO-Industry Forum in Bucharest, Romania earlier on Thursday, Rutte asserted that “Russia is not alone in its efforts to undermine the global rules,” claiming that “it is working with China, with North Korea, with Iran and others.”
According to the NATO chief, those nations “are increasing their defense industrial collaboration to unprecedented levels,” which he said indicates that “they are preparing for long term confrontation.”
Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that NATO has been “artificially expanding its zone of responsibility far beyond the Euro-Atlantic region,” seeking to turn the whole of Eurasia into its “fiefdom.”
The Western military bloc is pursuing the “obvious goal of containing China, isolating Russia, and confronting the DPRK [North Korea],” the top Russian diplomat asserted.
Western officials have repeatedly accused China of helping Russia’s military in the context of the Ukraine conflict – a claim Beijing has consistently denied.
