US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said that in the event of a major global conflict, China’s aggressive actions in the Pacific region could take place simultaneously with Russia’s attacks in Europe.
The main aim of such coordinated actions would be to block the US military presence on the European continent, Yevropeyska Pravda reports.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed with a similar assessment. In his view, before launching aggression in the Pacific region, Beijing will first push Putin to divert as much of the allies’ attention and resources in Europe as possible.
In addition, the American diplomat stressed that a potential war would not begin with a ground invasion of troops across the border. He said the first blows would be large-scale attacks on critical infrastructure, technology facilities and elements of hybrid warfare, which NATO must be ready to repel now.