Nato chief urges South Korea to arm Ukraine: ‘they need weapons’
- Jens Stoltenberg is in Seoul on the first leg of an Asia trip that will also take in Japan, as part of a drive to boost ties with US allies
- On Monday he urged South Korea to do more to help Ukraine and reconsider its policy of not exporting weapons to countries in conflict
“I urge the Republic of Korea to continue and to step up on the specific issue of military support,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s a decision for you to make, but I’ll say that several Nato allies who have had as a policy to never export weapons to countries in a conflict have changed that policy now.”
In meetings with senior South Korean officials, Stoltenberg argued that events in Europe and North America are interconnected with other regions, and that the alliance wants to help manage global threats by increasing partnerships in Asia.
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Stoltenberg noted that countries such as Germany, Sweden, and Norway had similar policies but changed them.
“If we don’t want autocracy and tyranny to win, then they need weapons, that’s the reality,” he said, referring to Ukraine.
The Nato chief said it was “extremely important” that Russia doesn’t win this war, not only for the Ukrainians but also to avoid sending a wrong message to authoritarian leaders, including in Beijing, that they can get what they want by force.
Although China is not Nato’s adversary, it has become “much higher” on the transatlantic security alliance’s agenda, Stoltenberg said, citing Beijing’s rising military capabilities and coercive behaviour.
“We believe that we should engage with China on issues like arms control, climate change and other issues,” he said. “But at the same time, we are very clear that China poses a challenge to our values, to our interests, and to our security.”
Last year South Korea opened its first diplomatic mission to Nato, vowing to deepen cooperation on non-proliferation, cyber defence, counterterrorism, disaster response and other security areas.
The Nato chief’s visit also comes as US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin was due to arrive in Seoul on Monday for talks with his South Korean counterpart Lee Jong-sup.