Joint press conference

Prime Minister Kristersson, dear Ulf, I'm delighted to welcome you here in Brussels today, and this is for the first time for me in my role as NATO Secretary General.

Today marks one year since the terrorist attacks in Brussels, and you laid a wreath this morning to commemorate that moment. Can I say that all Allies stand together against terrorism in all its forms. You can count on us.

Since joining NATO in March this year, Sweden's membership has made NATO stronger, Sweden safer and all of us more secure. Sweden's membership has strengthened our security in the Baltic region and the high north, and Sweden makes valuable contributions to NATO on multiple fronts.

You have highly capable forces and significant capabilities from cutting edge submarines to advanced fighting jets. Sweden spends more than 2% of GDP on defence, and I welcome that you plan to further boost your defence spending in 2025, I believe even towards 2.6%.

Last week, the Swedish government presented a bill to the Riksdag proposing further contributions to NATO's deterrence and defence, including troops for NATO's battlegroup and Latvia, combat aircraft for NATO's air policing mission, and vessels for NATO's standing naval forces. I also welcome that Sweden has offered to lead the new NATO battlegroup to be established in Finland, and you have been steadfast in your support to Ukraine.

On a per capita basis, Sweden is a top supporter of Ukraine, providing over 4 billion euros in military assistance. Today, we discussed how to further strengthen NATO's defences and how to bolster our support for Ukraine on both fronts, we need to move further and faster to face the challenges that lie had.

Our defence plans have set ambitious targets for our Allies, which require more investment and greater burden sharing, and we are working hard to deliver on the commitments made during the Washington Summit on support for Ukraine, including a new command to coordinate security assistance and training and a financial pledge of 40 billion euros as a minimum baseline in the coming year.

So we concluded that we remain committed to supporting Ukraine on its irreversible path to NATO membership. Every nation has the right to choose its own path. No one outside NATO or outside that particular country has a veto or a vote on this. Sweden's seat at the NATO table shows exactly that.

Prime Minister Kristersson, dear Ulf, once again, thank you for your steadfast commitment to our Transatlantic Alliance, and I really look forward to work together over the coming years. Thank you so much.

NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah: Thank you. I'll start with Politico over there on the left.

Stuart Lau [Politico]: Thank you. Stuart Lau from Politico, for the Secretary General. President Zelenskyy today just presented the victory plan with a vow to get invitation for NATO membership. Is that something you agree with, is that something you work on, convincing Allies and other leaders to sign up for that and for the Prime Minister, Sweden has agreed to be the lead nation for Finland's [inaudible] land forces. Is there any updates you can give us today? How many people you're looking at deploying? What's the timeline? How many nations you would like to include? Thank you.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte: Well, on your first question, as you know, I visited Kyiv two weeks ago, and I spoke with Zelenskyy, also in London last week and we are in regular contact, and I'm very much aware of all the elements of the victory plan. As you also know, NATO in Washington decided to make the path towards NATO membership for Ukraine an irreversible path. That's clearly stated, and we are in close contact with Allies, with Ukraine, to see how we can take next steps, how to do that in a way which is also successful, which is fruitful, etc. Obviously, these are talks I cannot give you all the insights about, that's impossible at a press conference like this, but the victory plan, of course, we very much are debating with them and using every opportunity to take that one step by step further.

NATO Spokesperson: Okay, thank you. We'll take a question from Reuters.

Lili Bayer [Reuters]: Thank you very much, Lili from Reuters. Secretary General, I know you can't go into the details, but I was wondering if you could maybe explain what these possible next steps could be when it comes to Ukraine's aspiration to get an invitation to join the Alliance. And further to that, I was wondering if you could address concerns, especially in Ukraine, that, you know, if Allies don't respond to this request for an invitation that the public could get quite disappointed. Thank you.

NATO Secretary General: Well, as you know, a lot is happening. So, in Washington, we decided on the 40 billion pledge. We decided on setting up a command in Wiesbaden. We know that many Allies have bilateral security agreements with Ukraine. So, all of this is basically building that bridge to NATO membership in the future. But the victory plan is not only about an invitation to become a member of NATO. The victory plan has more elements, as today, President Zelenskyy has explained to his Parliament. And obviously this is always part of a debate which is ongoing. What I have made clear in Kyiv is that ultimately, NATO membership is the sovereign right to ask for every nation which is somehow part of our geography, and the only ones deciding on it are the 32 members already in NATO, and the one country who wants to become a part of NATO. And therefore, let there be no doubt that Putin or Russia have no vote on this. Have no veto on this. This is really a discussion which is ongoing between us and Ukraine. And when I'm saying next steps is not just on this issue, but on the general content of the victory plan. Obviously, we are working with Ukrainians to understand better what they are at, how this could help in ending the war. And in the end, the most crucial thing we have to achieve is for Ukraine to be in the best possible position one day when the Ukrainian government would decide that they want to enter into talks on ending this war, they have to be in a very strong position when that moment comes.

NATO Spokesperson: Thank you. We'll go to Swedish Radio.

John Granlund [SVT]: John Granlund, Swedish National Television. Regarding the forward land forces presence in Finland. Do you see a need for soldiers being deployed, or will staff officers be enough? And could you also elaborate a bit on the reasons behind the decision to establish a base like this in Finland?

NATO Secretary General: Well, first of all, let me say, I very much welcome Sweden's offer to lead NATO's forward presence to be established in Finland. This is good news. We already have eight of these battle groups on the eastern line. This will be number nine. And there is total logic to this, because it helps us to make sure that we defend every inch of NATO territory, also on the eastern part of the Alliance. And it was agreed in Washington that we would establish number nine in Finland. Sweden has strong armed forces, and you have cutting edge capabilities. So, this will further strengthen NATO's posture. It will further strengthen our deterrence and demonstrate also the burden sharing within the Alliance, and the fact that Sweden, as a new Ally, is willing to take up that role is highly appreciated. Obviously, all the details have to be worked out. We are not there yet, and that's something which is also being discussed between Sweden and Finland. And last week, we had a visit here of President Stubb, Alex Stubb of Finland, and we discussed this also at length, and they are extremely grateful for this offer having been made by Sweden.

NATO Spokesperson: Okay, this time to Swedish Radio, second row.

John Andersson [Swedish Radio]: Mr. Secretary [inaudible]. A month ago, the Swedish Ministry of Defence received the first version of the capability targets, which will be decided next year. Focus seems to be more army units and air and missile defence. Why this focus on how do you think Swedish policy works with the targets and the second question, and during the speech from the Prime Minister of Sweden, you did a small applause when you talked about 600 soldiers in Latvia. Why?

NATO Secretary General: Because it shows the willingness of Sweden not only to be part of the Alliance and therefore helping us to strengthen our deterrence, but also to share their capabilities, Sweden's capabilities and possibilities with others to make sure that as a collective, we stay safe. And Latvia is extremely grateful for this, and again, also, Finland is very happy with the fact that you guys are willing to help here. On your other question, let me make clear targets are purely driven by military requirements. This is not a political thing. These are the military requirements which drives the targets. They always flow from NATO's plans for our collective defence. But I don't want to get into it any further, not to make our adversaries any wiser. So sometimes we have to leave a little bit at that, but we have our plans in NATO. That means that every Ally knows this is my part of the game I need to deliver. These are the capabilities they need. These are the targets I have to reach, here are still gaps we have to bridge, and that delivers the collective defence of the Alliance.

NATO Spokesperson: Okay, we'll go to the gentleman at the back there from Zerkalo (question to the Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr Ulf Kristersson).

NATO Spokesperson: Okay, we'll take one final question from TT, gentlemen…

Wiktor Nummelin [Swedish News Agency – TT]: Wiktor Nummelin, Swedish News Agency – TT. Coming back to Zelenskyy, you will meet with him tomorrow at European Council, Prime Minister. What are you expecting to hear, and what will tell him and for the Secretary General, will you also invite Mr. Zelenskyy here tomorrow, or maybe go to Germany for Mr. Biden on Friday? Can you fill us in, anything on that? Please. Thank you.

NATO Secretary General: Well, what I know now is that Zelenskyy will visit the European Council, whether anything else is planned, we have to wait, and on Friday, I myself will be chairing the Defence Ministers Meeting and then have further engagements.  This whole visit, I think, as I understand it, of American President Biden to Europe is a shortened state visit because of the terrible effect of hurricane in Florida, through which he had to, of course, cancel his visit to Germany and also to Ramstein last week, and we completely understood that a priority now [inaudible] is the American people. So, this will be a short [inaudible]. I will be here chairing the Defence Ministers Meeting on Friday. We have extensive discussions on the agenda, but I can assure you, I'm on the phone, and [inaudible] have conversation with almost every Ally at the moment to make sure that we keep our defences up and also our support for Ukraine ongoing.

NATO Spokesperson: Thank you all. I'm afraid that's all we have time for. Thank you very much.