In a declaration issued this week at a summit in Washington, NATO leaders reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine’s membership and adopted a firmer position on China’s backing of Russia.
North Korea’s state media KCNA quoted a foreign ministry spokesperson saying, “The ‘Washington Summit Declaration,’ concocted and released on July 10, proves that the U.S. and NATO, now mere instruments of confrontation, present the gravest threat to global peace and security.”
North Korea’s statement further claimed that U.S. efforts to expand military alliances with NATO nations and Asian partners, including South Korea and Japan, are “the primary cause of severely jeopardizing regional peace, substantially deteriorating the global security environment, and triggering an international arms race.”
The declaration from the summit urged China to stop all forms of material and political support for Russia’s military efforts.
Additionally, it blamed Iran and North Korea of aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine by supplying direct military aid to Moscow.
In a separate development, South Korea and the United States signed a procedure on the sidelines of the NATO summit aimed at creating an integrated system of prolonged deterrence for the Korean Peninsula to handle nuclear and military perils from North Korea.