Commenting on the recent Chinese balloon incident NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg claimed China is stepping up its intelligence activity in Europe.

"The Chinese balloon over the United States confirms a pattern of Chinese behavior," Stoltenberg said during a press conference in Washington Following a meeting with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

"We have also seen increased Chinese intelligence activities in Europe, again, different platforms. They use satellites, they use cyber, and as we’ve seen over the United States, also balloons," Stoltenberg stated.

Read more: Chinese balloon, among many more, part of aerial spy program: US intel

The US secretary of state then asserted that Finland and Sweden's ascension to NATO will soon be finalized. 

"We're confident that NATO will formally welcome both countries, and that will happen soon," Blinken said during a joint press conference with Stoltenberg in Washington.

According to the US Secretary of State, the best approach to improve the chances of diplomatic peace talks in Ukraine is to tip the balance in Kiev's favor on the battlefield.

"Best way to hasten prospects for real diplomacy is to keep tilting the battlefield in Ukraine's favor," Blinken said.

Chinese Balloon Paranoia

The balloon was flying over the North American Aerospace Defense Command on January 28, over Alaska, before it was found floating over missile sites in Montana. Days later, after tracking, the US decided to shoot it down over the South Carolina coast.

Read more: WH says US in talks with allies after the Chinese balloon scare

On Monday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the US is intent on not only keeping the debris of the Chinese balloon but to "exploit what we recover and learn even more than we have learned".

Adding to the American balloon paranoia, an article by The Wall Street Journal, citing White House officials, reported that the US did not detect previous high-altitude Chinese alleged 'spy' balloons until they left US airspace. 

Reports cited defense officials saying that at least three suspected Chinese balloons flew over the continental United States during the Trump administration and at least one previously during the Biden administration.