By outdoor-nature-child.com In a recent analysis published by the Politico news site, the informal alliance among authoritarian nations—China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, collectively referred to as CRINK—has been described as a new “axis of evil.” This coalition is prompting NATO to strengthen its relationships with countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
The report highlights that the other CRINK nations are aligning with Moscow’s brutal aggression against Ukraine. As a result, NATO feels pressured to enhance ties with like-minded Indo-Pacific nations. For the first time, senior officials from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan participated in the NATO Defense Ministers’ meeting in Brussels on the 17th. For the past three years, leaders from these Indo-Pacific countries had attended NATO’s annual summit as distinguished guests.
On the same day, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated to the media that the expanded participation of Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan in NATO has been highly beneficial. He emphasized that “the obvious fact is that security threats emerging in the Indo-Pacific are related to developments happening here; the world cannot be neatly compartmentalized.”
The report also noted that regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, Russia frequently relies on its allies for assistance. Notably, Iran’s Shahed suicide drones are regularly used by Russian forces to attack Ukrainian cities, with Iranian military advisors reportedly supporting the Russians. Both the U.S. and Ukraine have accused Iran of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia, though Tehran has denied these claims.
North Korea has been supplying significant quantities of explosives and missiles to Russia, which has become an essential support for the Russian military as its advances in Ukraine have slowed. Kyiv has reported that North Korea has even deployed thousands of troops to participate in the conflict.
While China insists it has not provided weapons to Russia, Washington claims that Beijing is covertly supporting President Vladimir Putin’s military. China is purchasing energy from Russia, and the export of chips and other supplies from China is critical for sustaining Moscow’s war machine.
Last week, officials from Russia and China met in Beijing, pledging to further deepen their cooperation in the future. In recent months, the two countries have conducted several joint military exercises.
Although Kyiv is receiving military aid from allies, there are restrictions on how weapons can be utilized against Russia.