Allied Chiefs of Defence meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte

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Today and tomorrow, 15 - 16 January 2025, NATO's highest Military Authority, the Military Committee, meets in Chiefs of Defence format at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. The meeting focuses on further strengthening deterrence and defence of the Alliance, strengthening NATO’s Partnerships around the world as well as supporting Ukraine in its resistance against Russia’s unprovoked aggression. Across both days, Allied Chiefs of Defence will meet with Military Authorities from NATO Partner countries to discuss how to best tackle pervasive instability around the globe together.

In his opening remarks, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte conveyed, “to prevent war, we need to prepare for it. It is time to shift to a wartime mindset.” Furthermore, he stressed that this entails increasing defence spending, continuing to support Ukraine, and strengthening cooperation with NATO Partners across the globe.

The Chair of the Military Committee expressed in his opening remarks that support for Ukraine is more paramount than ever. Admiral Bauer emphasised that, “Our support is not charity. It is in the political and military interests of the Alliance to do so. We need to show the world that democracy can and will win. And that democracy is worth fighting for.” The Chair stressed that for Ukraine, “sovereignty is not an abstract term.”

On the agenda for the meeting:
- NATO’s readiness to deter and defend the Euro-Atlantic area, ongoing missions and operations
- the NATO Defence Planning Process:
- and the implementation path for a multi domain-enabled Alliance by 2030.
- How NATO can support Partners in an era of pervasive global instability
- NATO standardization and interoperability with Partners

Tomorrow, 16 January at 17:30, there will be a joint press conference from Admiral Bauer, Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Cavoli, and Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Admiral Vandier. The press conference will be livestreamed on the NATO website.