Opening remarks

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Good morning all of you and welcome.

Welcome to this meeting of the Foreign Ministers of NATO.

In this session, we will assess the progress made in strengthening our collective defence since NATO leaders met at the historic Summit in the Hague. We will also look ahead at what more Allies need to do as we start preparing for the next Summit in Ankara in July 2026 and we face real and lasting dangers.

Russia continues to test our deterrence. Russia has violated our airspace with jets and drones, conducted sabotage and sent spy ships into our waters.

These actions are reckless and they are dangerous, and it's not Russia alone.

It is working closely with China, North Korea and Iran to attempt to disrupt our societies and tear up the global rules.

They are preparing for long term confrontation, and we are responding with strength, unity and resolve.

European Allies and Canada are really stepping up defence investments, and that's good, but we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.

We all need to pull our weight and fast.

We need to develop and buy core capabilities for our defence and invest in industry, in infrastructure and innovation to stimulate production and boost resilience.

We also need to support Ukraine more.

Russian missiles keep causing death and destruction, and winter is here.

Ukraine needs our support more than ever.

We all want the bloodshed to stop, and I strongly welcome President Trump's continued efforts to end this war.

Meanwhile, we must accelerate our contributions to PURL to get urgently needed equipment to Ukraine so that it can defend itself today and prevent aggression in the future.

This afternoon, at the working lunch of the NATO-Ukraine Council, Minister Sybiha will update us on the latest developments, Ukraine's urgent requirements and the peace effort.

And this concludes the public portion of our meeting.

I thank the media for joining us.