NATO Secretary Common – Doorstep observation at Foreign Ministers Assembly, 03 APR 2024

Good morning. Foreign Ministers will meet todayand tomorrow to mark NATO’s 75th anniversary, and to prepare forour Summit in Washington in July. NATO was founded on a single, solemn promise:an attack on one Ally is an attack on all. From that foundation, we have built the mostpowerful and successful Alliance in history. And over the past 75 years, NATO’s Open Door has helped to spreaddemocracy and prosperity across Europe. As we celebrate NATO's achievements,we do not rest upon them. Europe now faces war on a scale wethought was resigned to history.

In recent days, the Kremlinhas launched new major attacks, striking Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure. And Russia continues topress along the frontlines. So we must stand firm in our support to Ukraine. And I welcome that Allies continue to make majordeliveries of weapons, ammunition, and equipment. But Ukraine has urgent needs.Any delay in providing support has consequences on the battlefield as we speak. So we need to shift the dynamics of our support. We must ensure reliable and predictable securityassistance to Ukraine for the long haul.

So that we rely less on voluntarycontributions and more on NATO commitments. Less on short-term offers andmore on multi-year pledges. therefore Ministers will discuss how NATO couldassume more responsibility for coordinating military equipment and training for Ukraineanchoring this within a robust NATO framework. We will also discuss a multi-year financialcommitment to sustain our support. This ministerial will set the stage for achieving consensus on these issues as weprepare for the Washington Summit. NATO Allies provide 99 percent ofall military support to Ukraine. So doing more under NATO would make ourefforts more efficient, and more effective.

Moscow needs to understand thatthey cannot achieve their goals on the battlefield and they cannot wait us out. Tomorrow we will hold a meetingof the NATO-Ukraine Council. With Minister Kuleba, we willaddress the current situation and Ukraine’s needs both now and for the future. We are transforming NATO’scomprehensive assistance package into a multi-year programme of assistance. We are helping Ukraine move closer to NATO, NATO standards on everythingfrom procurement to logistics.

And we are supporting Ukraine’s reform effortsto bring Ukraine ever closer to the Alliance. Ukraine will become a member of NATO.It is a question of when, not if. Tomorrow, we will also meet with ourIndo-Pacific partners: Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.Together with the European Union. We know that our security isnot regional – it is global. The war in Ukraine illustrates this clearly. Russia’s friends in Asia are vitalfor continuing its war of aggression. China is propping up Russia’s war economy. In return, Moscow is mortgagingits future to Beijing.

North Korea and Iran are deliveringsubstantial supplies of weapons and ammunition. In return, Pyongyang and Tehranare receiving Russian technology and supplies that help them advancetheir missile and nuclear capabilities. This has regional and globalsecurity consequences. So like-minded nations aroundthe world need to stand together. To defend a global orderruled by law, not by force. Tomorrow we will discuss how bestto work together towards this end. We also have much to gain from practicalcooperation – including on technology, cyber, and hybrid threats.As well as support to Ukraine.

All of this matters for European security.And for Indo-Pacific security.  Countering rising global threats requires sustained spending. A record number of Allies will meet NATO’s2 percent of GDP spending target this year. And I look forward to further progress. At our ministerial, we will also discuss how toaddress instability in our southern neighbourhood. Including the continuing threat of terrorism. We will also agree a new policyon Women, Peace and Security. Because our societies are stronger and safer whenwe draw on the contributions of all our people.

And with that, I am happyto take some questions. Lorne Cook, Associated PressSecretary General, I understand you've been working on an idea of perhapsmore predictable longer term support for Ukraine that might involve the transfer ofthe Ukrainian contact group to NATO control, perhaps also some finances. Could you tell us abit more about it and why it's important, please. NATO Secretary GeneralWell, I see that you have been briefed on the proposal, but I will not go into the detailsof the proposal. What I can say is that I welcome that Allies agree that we need to sustain oursupport to Ukraine, we need to make it more robust and therefore we are now discussing waysto institutionalize more of the support within a.

NATO framework to make it more predictable to makeit more robust, because we strongly believe that support Ukraine should be less dependent on shortterm voluntary offers and more dependent on long term NATO commitments. By doing that, we will giveUkraine what they need. And that is long term, predictable, robust support. And that will alsosend a message to Moscow that they cannot wait those out. And the reality is that if you wantthis war to end, the sooner we can convince Moscow that they will not win on the battlefield.They cannot wait us out, the sooner we can then be able to reach a peace agreement where Russiarealized that that they cannot win the war, but have to sit down and negotiate an agreementwhere Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation. So a stronger NATO role in coordinatingand providing support is a way to end this war.

In a way where Ukraine provides. We already have alot of coordination, 99% of the support to Ukraine comes from NATO allies and of course, I welcomethat capability coalition's the Ramstein format, many other multinational and bilateralinitiatives, but there is a need to give this a more robust and institutional framework to ensurepredictability and commitment for long haul. NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah Thank you. The next questionis to Florian from ZDF Florian Neuhann ZDFYes, thank you very much, Mr. Stoltenberg. That number we were briefedon is 100 billion. Can you say anything about this number, and especially if you're talkingabout fresh and new money or just adding up.

What has been promised already by memberstates of NATO? And the second question, are you planning to abolish the Ramsteinformat and really include it into NATO? NATO Secretary GeneralSo first, what is obvious is that we need new and more money forUkraine and we need it over many years. And the whole idea now discussing frameworkscommitments and institutionalized framework for the support is to ensure more predictabilityand more confidence in that moment will come every month every year for the long haul. Soagain, I will not go into the details. I don't, there will be no finalization at the meetingtoday and tomorrow, we will hopefully move forward towards consensus and then we willhave an agreement in place by the summit. The.

Reason why we do this is the situation on thebattlefield in Ukraine. It is serious. We see Russia is pushing and we see how they try to winthis war but just waiting us out. And then for we need to answer by sending a clear message ofpractical support, financial support, and an institutional framework that ensures that we arethere for the long haul to be able to end the war. So I'm absolutely certain that I agree that weneed more money, we need new money. We need it for many years. What we are now discussing is exactlythe framework to establish that. Whatever we do, of course, will be closely coordinated with allthe other initiatives that NATO allies are part of. NATO as part of their Ramstein group. NATOallies are part of their own subgroup. 99% of the NATO support provided to the Ramstein groupis provided by NATO allies. We meet here at the.

NATO Headquarters we discussed this issue bothat the Rammstein format and headquarters with the discussed about NATO, the ministerial meetings,it's very much the same people are not actually the people responsible for delivering thesupport today, it's actually many of them working for NATO allies, all of them are workingfor NATO allies. And the general responsible for the whole logistics, then the support that goesto Poland to the hub in Poland and all the work in this problem that underpins the work.That's General Cavoli and General Cavoli is the US commander in Europe, but General Cavoli isalso the NATO commander in Europe. And of course, I think that General Cavoli can coordinatewith General Cavoli. It's the same man, the same people the same countries the samemoney from the same countries. So of course,.

NATO allies will be able to coordinate now we'rediscussing how to have the best institutions, the best commitments, and the best frameworkto ensure efficiency, predictability, political oversight, and that we have the enduranceneeded to ensure that Ukraine prevails. NATO Spokesperson Farah DakhlallahThank you. The next question is the colleague from European Pravda. European PravdaThanks so much. Mr. Secretary Generals, two quick questions.First, could you please prepare us on what's going to be discussed at the NATO KoreanCouncil and whether those things that you mentioned regarding Ukraine support longterm commitments are going to be part of.

That? Second question. Ukrainian leadershiphas been claiming that Russia is preparing a major counter offensive to take place in May orJune. So what is NATO's assessment of that? Do you see any preparations any military build-upon the part of Russia to do that? Thank you. NATO Secretary GeneralWell, we see a constant Russian military build-up, we see how they arereceiving ammunition weapons from North Korea and Iran. A significant amount of weapons andammunition. We see on Russia has been able to put the economy on a war footing, and we see howRussia Moscow is willing to pay a very high price in terms of men and material in marginal gainson the Ukrainian battlefield with little to no respect for human lives. So this is of course,the reason why the situation on the battle.

Frontline is so difficult is so challenging.And that's exactly the reason why we need to do more from NATO allies. Both the urgent needfor more air defence for more artillery, but also the more long term institutionalized effortof establishing the frameworks the structures, moving away from short term announcements, shortterms offers to long term real commitments, multi year commitments to ensure the predictabilityand the sustainability our support to address exactly what we have seen coming fromRussia, military build-up over a long time. NATO Spokesperson Farah DakhlallahThank you very much. We'll move over to New Zealand TV. New Zealand TVHow important is.

It that the Indo Pacific partners continue to give to Ukraine as well? And how important is itthat they're here for these next two days? NATO Secretary GeneralI welcome very much that our Indo Pacific partners take part in our foreign ministers meeting inBrussels today and tomorrow. I just met with the Foreign Minister of New Zealand. We had a verygood discussion, and it reflects the fact that our security is not regional our security is global.What happens in Ukraine matters for Asia. The more successful Putin is in Ukraine, the more likely itis that we can see something similar happen in the South China Sea. And we see also how Russia'sfriends in Asia are helping him supporting his war aggression against Ukraine, Iran and NorthKorea, key providers of weapons and ammunition.

To Russia. So this just highlights that securityin Asia is intertwined with security in Europe and for the Asia and the Pacific is important for us.I welcome the fact that I have now invited for the third time, the Heads of State and government fromNew Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea, our partners of the Asia Pacific to attend thesummit in Washington in July. This reflects that we are actually doing more together.And I believe I announced the welcome that we are now discussing also flagship projects.How we could do more on cyber, on resilience, also in providing support to Ukraine and Icommend New Zealand and other partners in the region for actually being major providersof non-lethal support to NATO's comprehensive system package for Ukraine. So, yeah, we welcomethem, it's great to have such strong partners.

NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah Thank you. We'll take onefinal question from Alexandra. QuestionHello, thank you. And will and how will hopefully Ukraine contact group be instilled in the NATOorganism. And is it a form of a Trump proof measure? Does it indicate that NATO is concernedwith the possibility of Trump presidency? NATO Secretary GeneralHe first of all, again, NATO is part of the contact group. The contactGroup has done extremely important work has been key in delivering support, and NATO allieshave delivered unprecedented level of military support to Ukraine, not least organized bythe UDCG, the Ukraine defence contact group,.

The Ramstein format, and as I said we wereable to coordinate with existing structures, because it's very much the same people incharge of everything, here it is General Cavoli who is the US commander, but the sametime also the NATO commander, so of course, this this will be coordinated. Then,then what was the next question? Question… Trump proof measure? NATO Secretary GeneralWell, the reason why we discussed this is that we see the situation on the battlefield. Wesee how demanding and difficult the situation is in Ukraine. So therefore we welcome everythingNATO allies have done. At the same time we see that we need to do more it's; it's notenough. And Ukrainians they need more support,.

But they also need more predictable and long termsupport. So it's possible to plan to organize and launch offensives that then you need long termplanning you need to know what you are going to have and what type of equipment and what kind ofsupport and what kind of maintenance. And this requires stronger institutionalized framework todeliver a more robust and predictable support to Ukraine. So that's the reason why we're discussingthis. It's a reflection of the seriousness on the battlefield. Then I would like to say thatof course we all believe it's important, or I strongly believe it's important that alliesmake decisions fast. And that includes, of course, United States, because the United States isnot the only supporter for Ukraine. Actually, European Allies and Canada are providing roughly50% of their military support to Ukraine. So this.

Is really a shared effort by the United Statesand the European allies and Canada. But of course, United States is the biggest ally and is providingthe most military support. And the fact that there has been no agreement in the US Congress ona supplemental or continued this support has consequences. That's one of the reasons why theUkrainian have to ration the number of artillery shells, why they have problems standing up againstthe Russian force with overwhelming military power because of they're able to outgun them withmore ammunition and more artillery. And the answer to that is to then make the decisionsand not least in the US Congress. Any delay has real consequences on the battlefield. I metsenators, members of the House of Representatives and they're all assured me that there is a bigmajority in the US Congress for support. So the.

Issue is now to turn that majority into a votefrom decision. And I hope that's going to happen as soon as possible. It also brings majority inthe US public for continued support to Ukraine. So I expect the US now to make a decision becauseit's in the US security interest to ensure that President Putin doesn't prevail in Ukraine,not least because this will also encourage other authoritarian leaders, including Beijing touse military force and violate international law. NATO Spokesperson Farah DakhlallahThank you. There will be opportunities for more questions this afternoon. Thank you.

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