Beijing insists it does not provide military aid to Russia but has maintained strong trade ties with its northern neighbor throughout the conflict. It also accused NATO of inciting extremism and conflict in the Indo-Pacific region.

In their sharpest rebuke yet against Beijing, NATO allies on Wednesday called China a “decisive enabler” of Russia's war against Ukraine and expressed concern about Beijing's nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space. The strongly worded final communique approved by the 32 NATO members at their summit in Washington makes it clear that China is becoming the centerpiece of the military alliance. European and North American members and their partners in the Indo-Pacific increasingly express shared security concerns from Russia and its Asian backers, especially China.

Beijing insists it does not provide military aid to Russia but has maintained strong trade ties with its northern neighbor throughout the conflict. It also accused NATO of inciting extremism and conflict in the Indo-Pacific region.

In the conversation, NATO member states said the war was enabled by China's “no-limits partnership” with Russia and massive support for Russia's defense industrial base.

“This increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbors and to Euro-Atlantic security. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, we call on the PRC, with a specific responsibility to end all material and political support to Russia's war effort, in order to uphold the goals and principles of the UN Charter,” the communique said. Read China by its official name, the People's Republic of China.

“The PRC cannot enable Europe's largest war in recent history without negatively affecting its interests and reputation,” the document said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said China supplies equipment, microelectronics and tools that “enable Russia to build missiles, build bombs, build aircraft, build the weapons it uses to attack Ukraine.”

He said it was the first time that all NATO allies had explicitly stated this in an agreement document.

China refuses, saying Ukraine is neither a creator nor a party to the crisis

The Chinese embassy in Washington said on Wednesday that China is neither the creator nor a party to the Ukraine crisis. “China does not supply arms to parties to the conflict and strictly controls the export of dual-use items, which is widely appreciated by the international community,” said embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu.

He said China's normal trade with Russia was “pronounced” and “beyond reproach”.

Former Assistant Secretary of State for Asia Danny Russell called NATO's new words “an extraordinary step”, especially as Beijing warned of continuing “systemic challenges” to European interests and security.

“It's a sign of how badly Beijing's efforts to contain Russia and Western Europe have failed and how hollow its claims of neutrality are,” said Russell, who is vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “China's efforts to divide and conquer have created remarkable solidarity among major nations in the Euro-Atlantic and Asia-Pacific regions.”

Max Bergman, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the statement was “very significant” because it signals to China that Europe, like the US, condemns Russia's support.

“The U.S. believes that Europe has influence in Beijing and China will not heed the U.S. protest, but they will heed the European protest because Europe trades with China, China also trades with Europe,” Bergman said.

In this year's final declaration, NATO member states reiterated their concern that China poses “systemic challenges” to Euro-Atlantic security. It was first extended in 2021.

The alliance has said China is behind persistent, malicious cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation, and expressed concern over China's space capabilities and activities. He also warned that China is rapidly expanding and diversifying its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a greater number of sophisticated delivery systems.

Chinese embassy spokesman Liu said China handles such issues “responsibly with transparent policies”.

“Promoting the so-called 'China threat' is completely futile,” Liu said, adding that Beijing strongly opposes NATO's use of regional hotspot issues to smear China and ignite a new Cold War.

In Washington, where leaders of NATO nations are gathering this week to mark the alliance's 75th anniversary, President Joe Biden said the alliance must not back down from Russia, which is ramping up weapons production with the help of China, North Korea and Iran.

Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea have sent leaders or representatives to a NATO summit in Washington this week. They are alliance partners, not members.

In the final declaration, NATO members reaffirmed the importance of Indo-Pacific partners to the alliance and said they were “strengthening dialogue to address intra-regional challenges.”

NATO and Indo-Pacific partners plan to launch four projects to support Ukraine, increase cooperation on cyber defense, counter disinformation and work on artificial intelligence. The NATO members said the projects would “enhance our ability to work together on common security interests.”