Press conference

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg:

Good afternoon, it’s good to see you all,
We have just concluded a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Heads of State and Government.

We took important decisions to make NATO stronger and Allies safer. And to ensure that we share the burden of maintaining our security.

First, on deterrence and defence.

We have deployed combat-ready forces on NATO’s eastern flank. Put in place the most comprehensive defence plans since the Cold War. And we now have over 500,000 forces at high readiness in the Alliance.

Today we decided to adapt NATO’s Command Structure, improve our Integrated Air and Missile Defence systems, and to go further to match our defence plans with the necessary capabilities.
All of this has been made possible by historic increases in defence investment across the Alliance. When we made the Pledge to invest 2% of GDP in defence back in 2014 at the NATO Summit, only three Allies met the mark.

Today, 23 Allies are investing at least 2 percent of GDP in defence – a record high number. This also brings the total defence spending of European Allies and Canada above the 2 percent target.

So, we have delivered.

At the same time, we recognize that more is needed – including to ensure we can produce key capabilities. So today, Allies agreed a pledge that will strengthen transatlantic defence industrial cooperation, to boost production.

Allies also agreed to strengthen our air and missile defences. Including with a new Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defence base in Poland.

Second, on Ukraine.

We will meet President Zelenskyy tomorrow at the NATO – Ukraine Council, but today we took major decisions to further strengthen our support and to share the burden.

We agreed to launch NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine.

We will take over the coordination and provision of most of the international security assistance to Ukraine, with a command led by a three-star general, and around 700 personnel working at a NATO headquarters in Germany, and at hubs in the eastern part of the Alliance to provide the support to Ukraine.

NATO will coordinate the training of Ukrainian forces at facilities in Allied countries. We will support Ukraine by planning and coordinating donations. And we will manage the transfer and repair of equipment.

We will also provide support to the long-term development of Ukraine’s armed forces. This will not make NATO a party to the conflict, but it will help Ukraine to uphold its right to self-defence.

We also agreed a financial pledge. Helping Ukraine to build a force capable of defeating Russian aggression today, and deterring it tomorrow. We have agreed that 40 billion euros is a minimum baseline within the next year and to ensure sustainable funding for Ukraine to prevail.

We also agreed to review this at our Summit in 2025, not least to ensure it continues to meet Ukraine’s needs.

We are not doing this because we want to prolong a war. We are doing this because we want to end the war as soon as possible. The quickest way to end a war is to lose a war. But that would not bring peace. It would only bring occupation.

So unless we want Ukraine to lose, unless we want to bow to Putin, we need to show commitment and resolve. The more credible and enduring our support, the quicker Moscow will realise it cannot wait us out. And the sooner the war can end.

In our meeting we also decided to take further steps to bring Ukraine even closer to NATO. As Ukraine continues its vital reforms, we will continue to support them on their irreversible path to NATO membership.

The work we are doing together now will ensure that when the time is right, Ukraine can join without delay. It is not a question of if, but when. 

Finally, in this dangerous world, friends and partners are more important than ever. So today, we agreed to continue to strengthen our partnerships, especially in the Indo-Pacific. Security is global, not regional. Putin’s war is fuelled by those who do not share our values. Iran and North Korea provide direct military support, while China is propping up Russia’s war economy.

This is not just a temporary coalition of convenience. It is a major strategic shift. And we must remain clear-eyed as to the threat it poses.

As NATO Allies agreed today in our Summit Declaration, China has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine. And China’s support increases the threat Russia poses to Euro-Atlantic security.  
Allies have stated clearly that China cannot enable the largest conflict in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting their interests and reputation.

Tomorrow NATO Allies will meet with our four Indo-Pacific partners and the European Union. And we will continue to deepen our cooperation in addressing shared challenges.

And with that, I am ready to take your questions.

 

NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah: Okay, we'll give the first question to FAZ over there.

Thomas Gutschker (FAZ): Thanks a lot, Thomas Gutschker, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Secretary General, you have just referred to this sentence in the Declaration, which reads, “the People's Republic of China cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interest and reputation.” So my question to you, which specific measures do you deem appropriate to bring this message across to Beijing? And in your view, would sector-specific sanctions be justified instead of what the EU is doing now, just putting restrictions on a small number of companies doing trade between the EU and Russia? Thank you.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: So first of all, I think it's important to recognise the importance of 32 Allies stating this so clearly, that 32 Allies state very clearly that China is a decisive enabler of Russia's illegal war against Ukraine. We represent 50% of the world economy together, and it's the first time that all NATO Allies states this so clearly in an agreed document. Second, of course, it puts the focus on China as an important neighbour of Russia's war. China provides dual use equipment, microelectronics, a lot of other tools which are enabling Russia to build the missiles, to build the bombs, to build the aircraft, to build the weapons they're using to attack Ukraine. And the fact that this is now clearly stated, agreed by all NATO Allies, is an important message to China. And then, of course, we also then state that it cannot continue like this without this impacting the interests and the reputation of China. Of course, at the end of the day, this will be for individual Allies to make decisions, but I think the message sent from NATO, from this Summit is very strong and very clear. And we are clearly defining China's responsibility when it comes to enabling Russia's war aggression against Ukraine.

NATO Spokesperson: Thank you. I'll go to NBC.

Question (NBC): Thank you so much, Mr Secretary General. In your communique, you talk about strengthening support for Ukraine, and it's demonstrably done here at this anniversary celebration, but President Zelenskyy has argued in his speech last night again that they need the ability to conduct deep strikes across the border into Russia, 150 to 500 kilometres. They say that there is no other way other than attacking those jet bases, that they know where the bases are, that they can take them out. And that the evidence, certainly the evidence, most people would agree of Vladimir Putin not needing anymore indication of escalating is his own attack on Kyiv, the attack on the children's hospital this week, which Zelenskyy said was a signal to NATO members as on the eve of NATO arriving here. And I also wanted to ask you about light of the importance of Ukraine to NATO. What concerns do you and other members have about the possibility of electing someone to lead the United States, who said as recently as last night that before he was President, he didn't know what NATO was, and still is criticising the Europeans for not doing enough, when Europe is doing 2% and some are doing more.

NATO Secretary General: Well, I can answer the last question. First, I expect the United States to remain a staunch and, of course, important NATO Ally just by the fact that the United States is by far the biggest Ally. And I expect that for at least three reasons. One is that it is in the security interest of the United States to have a strong NATO. The United States becomes stronger and safer with NATO than without. The United States has in NATO something no other major power has, and that is more than 30 friends and Allies. Russia doesn't have that. China doesn't have that. The United States has that. And the United States is, of course, big. 25% of the world's economy. But if you add together all NATO Allies, then we are 50% of the world economy, twice as big. 50% of the world's military might. So especially in times where United States is concerned about China, their military capabilities, their economic might, it is even more important to keep NATO with all its friends and Allies. So that's the first reason I strongly believe that countries acting according to the interests, and it is the US security interest to keep NATO. A strong NATO is good for Europe, but there's also very good for the United States. The only time we invoked Article Five was after the attack on the United States.

The second reason why I expect that the United States will remain a loyal Ally is that there is broad bipartisan support in NATO. There have just been new opinion polls published, and they reiterate or showed once again, that is strong support across the United States for NATO. And I visited the Senate this morning. I met with a lot of senators, but also yesterday, I met with representatives in the House of Representative, bipartisan. I met with Speaker Mike Johnson. I met with a broad group of senators this morning from both parties, and they all repeat the same. That NATO is important for the United States. Also in the Congress, in the Senate and the House representatives, there is strong bipartisan support for NATO. That's the second reason why I expect United States remain a loyal Ally.

But the third reason is that the main criticism from former President Trump, but also from other US presidents, has not primarily been against NATO. It has been against NATO Allies not investing enough in NATO, and that has changed. The clear message has had an impact, because now Allies are really stepping up. Just two years ago, less than 10 Allies spent 2% of GDP on defence. When we made the pledge in 2014, it was only three Allies. Now it's 23 Allies. And those Allies not yet at 2% have plans in place to be there. So this is a totally different world. The message from United States has been understood, and Allies have acted. So for these reasons, it is in the US security interests have a strong NATO. There is strong bipartisan support for NATO in the United States. And European Allies and Canada addressed the main criticism from the United States. The lack of burden sharing has been addressed, and Allies will continue to address it.

So that's the last question. There is one more, and that is about strikes against legitimate military targets on the territory of Russia. We need to remember what this is. This is a war of aggression. Russia has attacked a neighbour, violated their territorial integrity, invaded Ukraine with troops, missile tanks, air strikes. That's a violation of international law. According to international law, Ukraine has the right for self-defence. We are helping them to uphold the right of self-defence by delivering weapons, ammunition, missiles, some with long range including cruise missiles, ATACMS. The right of self-defence includes the right to strike legitimate military targets on the territory of the aggressor, Russia. And Allies have imposed different kinds of restrictions. Some have no restrictions at all, but the reality is that Allies have provided Ukraine with the weapons and also enabled Ukraine to also strike targets on the territory of Russia. The restrictions vary, but there are Allies who are open up for that. And I think the United States should speak on behalf of the United States, but I think it well known that they have lifted some of some of the restrictions, because we have now the new offensive in Kharkiv, with the frontline and the borderline between Russia and Ukraine is almost the same. Of course, until now, most of the fighting took place on Ukrainian territory. So then to hit beyond the frontline was to actually hit Ukrainian territory. But now, when you have the new front in Kharkiv, the only way to hit actually artillery or airfields, which are conducting almost daily attacks against Ukrainian territories, is actually to hit them at the territory of Russia and Allies have made that possible.

 

NATO Spokesperson: Thank you. I'll go to Voice of America, Carla over there.

Question Carla Babb (VOA): Thank you, Mr Secretary General, Carla Babb, Voice of America. First to follow up on my colleague, you had said that the communique’s wording on China is an important message for China to hear. But is it a strong enough message to deter China from continuing to support Russia? And then on the NSATU that you've been announcing, can you tell us who will be the three-star general in charge of the NATO security assistance and training for Ukraine, and when will that mission in Wiesbaden, Germany, begin? Thank you.

NATO Secretary General: The declaration we have agreed today is the strongest message NATO Allies have ever sent on China's contributions to Russia's illegal war against Ukraine. So that, in itself, is a strong message. And we describe it, and we also make it clear that this will impact China's interests. So this is a strong and very clear message from NATO Allies.

Then General Cavoli, who is the US Commander in Europe, but also the NATO Supreme Commanders SACEUR. He is dual-hatted. He has been responsible for the US-led command that has enabled the provision of training to Ukraine up to now. So this is very much that NATO will take over those responsibilities and step up and do more compared to what we did before, as NATO. So this will be something that will happen almost seamlessly. I know that General Cavoli has planned this for a long time. He was actually the General, the Commander that gave us the plan to set up this command. I'm not able to tell you exactly now when, but this will happen soon. And we are very well prepared to take over responsibility for the activities in Wiesbaden, and also other hubs. There will be a three-star general, and also that is in process.

Question (Jordan News Agency): Mr Secretary General, how will the opening of a NATO Office in Amman strengthen the NATO's partnership with the South and in Jordan in particular? And how will it help to face the growing challenges in the south, both the abilities of the partner in the South. Thank you.

NATO Secretary General: First of all, I welcome very much that Allies now have agreed that we will have NATO Liaison Office in Amman, and this marks a significant milestone in the strategic partnership between Jordan and NATO. This is an issue that I also discussed last time King Abdullah visited NATO, we had a good meeting there. And of course, Jordan is a long standing, highly valued NATO partner, and by establishing the NATO Liaison Office, we are bringing this partnership to a new level. It also demonstrates that NATO actually addresses the threats and the challenges, but also the opportunities that emanates from the Middle East, from North Africa. Of course, we see terrorist threats, we see instability, but we also see opportunities, working more closely with our partners, including Jordan. But we also have partners like Tunisia. We have Mauritania. We have something called the Mediterranean dialog. We have the Gulf countries, and of course, we also have Iraq, where NATO has a training and the capacity building mission, and we are now stepping up what we also do with other partners in North Africa and the Middle East to address many challenges. We see more Russian and Chinese presence. We also see concentrate of terrorism, and I just received, or I appointed a group of experts some months ago to put forward proposals on how NATO can address these challenges in a more systematic way. And we have received the report, and Allies have agreed to many of the recommendations, and we now have the Liaison Office in Amman.

Question (Bloomberg): Secretary General, I want to come back to China. So apart from the unprecedentedly strong wording we can expect from the Alliance, what repercussions is NATO considering, should China decide to take things one step further and send direct military aid to Russia?

NATO Secretary General: Well that will make the whole thing much more serious. But the challenge now is that the difference between sending military weapons and doing what China already does is not that big, because they provide the tools, the equipment, the technology, the microprocessors, the microelectronics that Russia needs to put together these weapons systems. So of course, there is a difference, and it will be very serious if they start to deliver lethal weapons. But it is also, of course, a great concern that they enable China sorry, China enables Russia to construct and build the weapons they're using against Ukraine, and the important thing is that this is the first time 32 Allies representing 50% of the world economy state this. So clearly, then NATO is not an organization that, in a way, imposes economic sanctions, that's for Allies and EU and other institutions to do. But we represent now 32 nations which are stating this so clearly, and also the fact that it will impact its China's interests If this continues.

NATO Spokesperson: Okay, we'll go to Reuters. Andrew.

Andrew Gray (Reuters): Andrew Grey from Reuters. Secretary General, you have said and the Allies have said in their statement today, in the declaration that the path for Ukraine to NATO is irreversible. Can you explain how and why it's irreversible? Surely, if a country goes back on reforms, reneges on commitments, by definition, it is going backwards. It is reversing its path. That's not to say that's what Ukraine is doing now, but surely you can't rule out in the future. So, in what sense is it irreversible?

NATO Secretary General: In the way that this is a strong message from NATO Allies that we really want Ukraine to join, and that we are working with Ukraine to make that happen. Words are important, and words creates expectation, creates an agenda, defines an ambition. But of course, as important as words, the language in the declaration is actually what we then have agreed to do. So, in many ways, action speaks at least as loudly as words. So, I think you need to understand the declaration with a reference to irreversible path to membership, together with what we do. The fact that NATO is now taking out the coordination of most of the international aid and training is important also to help Ukraine move towards NATO membership. The fact that we have a long-term commitment moves them closer to NATO membership. Everything we do on interoperability, ensuring that Ukrainian Armed Forces meet the NATO standards, the NATO doctrines, also help them to move closer to membership. We have, we are agreed to establish a new Joint Analysis and Training Centre in Poland that will help us to move closer. And of course, the fact that Allies are, for instance, delivering F-16s and many other types of weapons, that doesn't only mean that we're delivering F-16s, but that comes with a lot of training where we will then share our doctrines, our thinking, and that will also help them to build a future Air Force, which will then be absolutely interoperable with NATO. So, the full package we have with Ukraine, with the NATO command, the long-term pledge, the delivery of new, more weapons, including more F-16s, the bilateral security agreements and the package on interoperability, all of that constitutes, as we call it, a bridge to membership. These are concrete actions that will bring Ukraine closer to membership and demonstrate that this will be an irreversible part.

NATO Spokesperson: Okay, we'll take one final question. We'll give it to the BBC, over there.

Question (BBC): Thank you, Secretary General. You said in your initial remarks that you are not concerned about U.S. commitment to NATO in the future, even if there was a change in administration. But NATO, of course, is made up of, as you've mentioned, 32 countries. I'm wondering how much those domestic U.S. considerations came up in discussions today, given it's quite inescapable, looking at just the U.S. media landscape, the fact that one candidate is very enthused about NATO, and one is publicly much less enthused. What kind of concern are you getting from member states about this issue, even if you yourself say you're confident?

NATO Secretary General: NATO is the most successful Alliance in history, because we have been able to stay out of domestic political debates, and it is important for me to continue to do what I can to ensure that continues to be the case. Second, we have had many, many examples of concerns about elections that they will lead to reduced support for NATO. I just read an article about when you had a new government in Portugal in 1975, after years of dictatorship, there were a lot of concern across the Alliance that this new government will not support NATO. It turned out to be a very strong supporter of NATO, the new government. We had some left parties entering into government in Europe in the 70s and 80s, again, a lot of concern, but they turned in to be very supportive of NATO. When I formed my second government in 2005 that was a coalition government with the left Socialist party of Norway. Concerns about my government was not reliable when it comes to NATO. It was a very reliable government on NATO issues, and they bought a lot of F-35s. So, I'm not saying that we can always just disregard concerns. And if you can listen to the speech I gave yesterday, and that main message in that speech is that NATO is not a given in ‘49 it is not a given now, and it's not a given in the future, but I expect NATO to continue as the strongest and most successful Alliance in history, because it is in the interest of us to say together. And the more dangerous the world is, the more obvious it is that we need NATO, so the paradox is in a way that since we now live in a more dangerous world, I'm actually even more strong in my conviction that we can expect that this Alliance will continue. It's a bit like in marriage. You have to, in a way, commit every day. But it has proven extremely reliable this Alliance because it is really in the interest of all Allies to stand together. And that also applies for the United States, because the United States is stronger and safer with NATO, and that's reason why I expect the United States to remain a staunch NATO Ally.

NATO Spokesperson: And I'm afraid we have to conclude the press conference, but there will be other opportunities to engage with the Secretary General. Thank you very much, and we'll see you tomorrow. Thank you.

NATO Secretary General: Thank you so much.