US envoy to NATO accuses Russia, China of ‘sharing toolkit’ to dismantle West

Russian Federation and its steadfast ally People’s Republic of China has been "sharing a toolkit" of strategies to undermine NATO nations, and dismantle the Western governments, including the US. Western nations must do more to defend their sovereignty and security against the Russian and Chinese threats, a senior US diplomat warned in an interview with the Financial Times. The diplomat did not specify the nature of the toolkit that was being shared between both countries. 

"Those two are increasingly sharing a toolkit that should concern the NATO alliance," Julianne Smith, US ambassador to NATO, said in the interview with FT. 

“There’s just no question that [China] and Russia are both working to divide…the transatlantic partners. And we are now very well aware, we all have a deeper appreciation of those efforts and are intent on addressing them,” she furthermore iterated. 

China 'very closely' watching Russia

US diplomats also expressed concerns about Beijing and Moscow's increased military belligerence as they ramped up the bilateral military exercises, and aligned their foreign policies against the West. China, in a statement, announced this week that PLA will conduct joint drills with the Russian Navy off the coast of Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai. Smith warned the West about the two superpowers, saying that they had been exchanging “hybrid tactics." She further stated that China has also been observing “very closely how Russia relies on disinformation and things like coercion of energy security, malign or malicious cyber operations.”

Smith elaborated on how China's readiness to serve as an alternative market for European energy throughout the Ukraine crisis impacts the US, and the collective West. Smith, in the interview, warned Brussels of its “suicidal” plans to cut off completely from Russian oil and gas. The move would undermine Europe’s own energy security, she stressed. 

Outlining the challenges posed by the People's Republic of China, Smith said, “To be clear, what we’re talking about is understanding how China operates in and around the Euro-Atlantic area…How it could, through some of its actions, create some security risks or vulnerabilities for collectively the alliance or individual member states." She continued that NATO has been able to identify these threats and act on them. “There is a part of this that rests with national governments, national decisions, national tools, and legislation. What we’re talking about is protecting our values, protecting our unity, and protecting ourselves from some of the hybrid tactics that in particular, the Chinese like to rely on,” she emphasized.