By Nora Buli

OSLO (Reuters) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday called on China to stop supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine and said Beijing’s assistance has been a significant factor in the continuation of the war.

“China has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Oslo. “China is the one that enables production of many of the weapons that Russia uses.”

Stoltenberg warned that Beijing’s continuous fuelling of the war in Ukraine could adversely impact its interests and reputation.

“I call on China to stop supporting Russia’s illegal war,” he said.

China has previously described similar statements made by NATO as ‘malicious’ and biased.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in July he does not want China, which has a “no limits” partnership with Russia, to act as a mediator but hoped Beijing would apply greater pressure on Moscow to end the war.

(Reporting by Nora Buli, writing by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Christina Fincher)