NATO's Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, has said at the Madrid summit that the alliance will “protect every inch of NATO territory.”
In the course of the summit, Russia has been characterised as a "direct threat" while China has been described as presenting "serious challenges".
Whilst there has been unprecedented unity in NATO's condemnation of Russia, NATO's criticism of China is a precedent. Jens Stoltenberg qualified the criticism of China saying that "China is not our enemy."
Putin has responded by warning that if NATO infrastructure is placed in Sweden or Finland, Russia will respond "adequately".
China in turn responded by claiming that it is NATO that is creating problems across the world, not China.
Sources: PAP, AP
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