Opening remarks
by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council with Finland, Georgia, Sweden, Ukraine and the European Union
(As delivered)
So, good morning.
Welcome to all of you.
Welcome to this meeting of NATO Defence Ministers.
Ministers meet today to address Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
And to prepare for the NATO Summit next week.
We are joined by our Ukrainian colleague, Oleksii Reznikov.
As well as by our other partners Georgia, Finland, Sweden, and the European Union.
The world is condemning this senseless war.
NATO Allies and partners are imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russia.
And we are united in our support to Ukraine.
For many years, NATO Allies have trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops.
And provided large quantities of critical equipment to help Ukraine uphold its right to self-defence.
Since the start of the Russian invasion, Allies have significantly stepped up our support for the brave Ukrainian people, government and armed forces.
With military equipment, humanitarian and financial assistance, and giving shelter to millions of refugees.
Today it is even more important that we all support Ukraine.
This ends the public part of our meeting. And I thank the media for joining us. And we will continue the meeting shortly. Thank you so much.