NATO Secretary General - Doorstep statement at Foreign Ministers Meeting, 03 APR 2024

Good morning. Foreign Ministers will meet today  and tomorrow to mark NATO’s 75th anniversary, and to prepare for  our 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 most  powerful and successful Alliance in history. And over the past 75 years, NATO’s Open Door has helped to spread  democracy and prosperity across Europe. As we celebrate NATO's achievements,  we do not rest upon them.

Europe now faces war on a scale we  thought was resigned to history. In recent days, the Kremlin  has launched new major attacks, striking Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure. And Russia continues to  press along the frontlines. So we must stand firm in our support to Ukraine. And I welcome that Allies continue to make major  deliveries 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 ne

ed to shift the dynamics of our support. We must ensure reliable and predictable security  assistance to Ukraine for the long haul. So that we rely less on voluntary  contributions and more on NATO commitments. Less on short-term offers and  more on multi-year pledges. therefore Ministers will discuss how NATO could  assume more responsibility for coordinating military equipment and training for Ukraine  anchoring this within a robust NATO framework. We will also discuss a multi-year financial 

commitment to sustain our support. This ministerial will set the stage for achieving consensus on these issues as we  prepare for the Washington Summit. NATO Allies provide 99 percent of  all military support to Ukraine. So doing more under NATO would make our  efforts more efficient, and more effective. Moscow needs to understand that  they cannot achieve their goals on the battlefield and they cannot wait us out. Tomorrow we will hold a meeting  of the NATO-Ukraine Council. With Minister Kuleb

a, we will  address the current situation and Ukraine’s needs both now and for the future. We are transforming NATO’s  comprehensive assistance package into a multi-year programme of assistance. We are helping Ukraine move closer to NATO, NATO standards on everything  from procurement to logistics. And we are supporting Ukraine’s reform efforts  to 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 o

ur  Indo-Pacific partners: Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Together with the European Union. We know that our security is  not regional – it is global. The war in Ukraine illustrates this clearly. Russia’s friends in Asia are vital  for continuing its war of aggression. China is propping up Russia’s war economy. In return, Moscow is mortgaging  its future to Beijing. North Korea and Iran are delivering  substantial supplies of weapons and ammunition. In return, Pyongyang and Tehra

n  are receiving Russian technology and supplies that help them advance  their missile and nuclear capabilities. This has regional and global  security consequences. So like-minded nations around  the world need to stand together. To defend a global order  ruled by law, not by force. Tomorrow we will discuss how best  to work together towards this end. We also have much to gain from practical  cooperation – 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’s  2 percent of GDP spending target this year. And I look forward to further progress. At our ministerial, we will also discuss how to  address instability in our southern neighbourhood. Including the continuing threat of terrorism. We will also agree a new policy  on Women, Peace and Security. Because our societies are stronge

r and safer when  we draw on the contributions of all our people. And with that, I am happy  to take some questions. Lorne Cook, Associated Press Secretary General, I understand you've been working on an idea of perhaps  more predictable longer term support for Ukraine that might involve the transfer of  the Ukrainian contact group to NATO control, perhaps also some finances. Could you tell us a  bit more about it and why it's important, please. NATO Secretary General Well, I see that you have b

een briefed on the proposal, but I will not go into the details  of the proposal. What I can say is that I welcome that Allies agree that we need to sustain our  support to Ukraine, we need to make it more robust and therefore we are now discussing ways  to institutionalize more of the support within a NATO framework to make it more predictable to make  it more robust, because we strongly believe that support Ukraine should be less dependent on short  term voluntary offers and more dependent on

long term NATO commitments. By doing that, we will give  Ukraine what they need. And that is long term, predictable, robust support. And that will also  send a message to Moscow that they cannot wait those out. And the reality is that if you want  this 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 Russia  realized that that they cannot win the war, but have to sit

down and negotiate an agreement  where Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation. So a stronger NATO role in coordinating  and providing support is a way to end this war in a way where Ukraine provides. We already have a  lot of coordination, 99% of the support to Ukraine comes from NATO allies and of course, I welcome  that capability coalition's the Ramstein format, many other multinational and bilateral  initiatives, but there is a need to give this a more robust and institutional fr

amework to ensure  predictability and commitment for long haul. NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah Thank you. The next question  is to Florian from ZDF Florian Neuhann ZDF Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Stoltenberg. That number we were briefed  on is 100 billion. Can you say anything about this number, and especially if you're talking  about fresh and new money or just adding up what has been promised already by member  states of NATO? And the second question, are you planning to abolish the Rams

tein  format and really include it into NATO? NATO Secretary General So first, what is obvious is that we need new and more money for  Ukraine and we need it over many years. And the whole idea now discussing frameworks  commitments and institutionalized framework for the support is to ensure more predictability  and more confidence in that moment will come every month every year for the long haul. So  again, I will not go into the details. I don't, there will be no finalization at the meeting 

today and tomorrow, we will hopefully move forward towards consensus and then we will  have an agreement in place by the summit. The reason why we do this is the situation on the  battlefield in Ukraine. It is serious. We see Russia is pushing and we see how they try to win  this war but just waiting us out. And then for we need to answer by sending a clear message of  practical support, financial support, and an institutional framework that ensures that we are  there for the long haul to be abl

e to end the war. So I'm absolutely certain that I agree that we  need more money, we need new money. We need it for many years. What we are now discussing is exactly  the framework to establish that. Whatever we do, of course, will be closely coordinated with all  the other initiatives that NATO allies are part of. NATO as part of their Ramstein group. NATO  allies are part of their own subgroup. 99% of the NATO support provided to the Ramstein group  is provided by NATO allies. We meet here at

the NATO Headquarters we discussed this issue both  at 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 the  support today, it's actually many of them working for NATO allies, all of them are working  for NATO allies. And the general responsible for the whole logistics, then the support that goes  to Poland to the hub in Poland and all the work in this problem tha

t underpins the work.  That's General Cavoli and General Cavoli is the US commander in Europe, but General Cavoli is  also the NATO commander in Europe. And of course, I think that General Cavoli can coordinate  with General Cavoli. It's the same man, the same people the same countries the same  money from the same countries. So of course, NATO allies will be able to coordinate now we're  discussing how to have the best institutions, the best commitments, and the best framework  to ensure effici

ency, predictability, political oversight, and that we have the endurance  needed to ensure that Ukraine prevails. NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah Thank you. The next question is the colleague from European Pravda. European Pravda Thanks so much. Mr. Secretary Generals, two quick questions.  First, could you please prepare us on what's going to be discussed at the NATO Korean  Council and whether those things that you mentioned regarding Ukraine support long  term commitments are going to be

part of that? Second question. Ukrainian leadership  has been claiming that Russia is preparing a major counter offensive to take place in May or  June. So what is NATO's assessment of that? Do you see any preparations any military build-up  on the part of Russia to do that? Thank you. NATO Secretary General Well, we see a constant Russian military build-up, we see how they are  receiving ammunition weapons from North Korea and Iran. A significant amount of weapons and  ammunition. We see on Rus

sia has been able to put the economy on a war footing, and we see how  Russia Moscow is willing to pay a very high price in terms of men and material in marginal gains  on 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 need  for more air defence for more artillery, but also the

more long term institutionalized effort  of establishing the frameworks the structures, moving away from short term announcements, short  terms offers to long term real commitments, multi year commitments to ensure the predictability  and the sustainability our support to address exactly what we have seen coming from  Russia, military build-up over a long time. NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah Thank you very much. We'll move over to New Zealand TV. New Zealand TV How important is it that the I

ndo Pacific partners continue to give to Ukraine as well? And how important is it  that they're here for these next two days? NATO Secretary General I welcome very much that our Indo Pacific partners take part in our foreign ministers meeting in  Brussels today and tomorrow. I just met with the Foreign Minister of New Zealand. We had a very  good 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 succ

essful Putin is in Ukraine, the more likely it  is that we can see something similar happen in the South China Sea. And we see also how Russia's  friends in Asia are helping him supporting his war aggression against Ukraine, Iran and North  Korea, key providers of weapons and ammunition to Russia. So this just highlights that security  in 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 from  New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea, our partners of the Asia Pacific to attend the  summit 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 I  commend New Zealand and other partners in the region for actually being major providers  of non-

lethal support to NATO's comprehensive system package for Ukraine. So, yeah, we welcome  them, it's great to have such strong partners. NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah Thank you. We'll take one  final question from Alexandra. Question Hello, thank you. And will and how will hopefully Ukraine contact group be instilled in the NATO  organism. And is it a form of a Trump proof measure? Does it indicate that NATO is concerned  with the possibility of Trump presidency? NATO Secretary General He fi

rst of all, again, NATO is part of the contact group. The contact  Group has done extremely important work has been key in delivering support, and NATO allies  have delivered unprecedented level of military support to Ukraine, not least organized by  the UDCG, the Ukraine defence contact group, the Ramstein format, and as I said we were  able to coordinate with existing structures, because it's very much the same people in  charge of everything, here it is General Cavoli who is the US commander,

but the same  time 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 General Well, the reason why we discussed this is that we see the situation on the battlefield. We  see how demanding and difficult the situation is in Ukraine. So therefore we welcome everything  NATO allies have done. At the same time we see that we need to do more it's; it's not  enough. And Ukrainians they need more s

upport, but they also need more predictable and long term  support. So it's possible to plan to organize and launch offensives that then you need long term  planning you need to know what you are going to have and what type of equipment and what kind of  support and what kind of maintenance. And this requires stronger institutionalized framework to  deliver a more robust and predictable support to Ukraine. So that's the reason why we're discussing  this. It's a reflection of the seriousness on t

he battlefield. Then I would like to say that  of course we all believe it's important, or I strongly believe it's important that allies  make decisions fast. And that includes, of course, United States, because the United States is  not the only supporter for Ukraine. Actually, European Allies and Canada are providing roughly  50% of their military support to Ukraine. So this is really a shared effort by the United States  and the European allies and Canada. But of course, United States is the

biggest ally and is providing  the most military support. And the fact that there has been no agreement in the US Congress on  a supplemental or continued this support has consequences. That's one of the reasons why the  Ukrainian have to ration the number of artillery shells, why they have problems standing up against  the Russian force with overwhelming military power because of they're able to outgun them with  more ammunition and more artillery. And the answer to that is to then make the dec

isions  and not least in the US Congress. Any delay has real consequences on the battlefield. I met  senators, members of the House of Representatives and they're all assured me that there is a big  majority in the US Congress for support. So the issue is now to turn that majority into a vote  from decision. And I hope that's going to happen as soon as possible. It also brings majority in  the US public for continued support to Ukraine. So I expect the US now to make a decision because  it'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 to  use military force and violate international law. NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah Thank you. There will be opportunities for more questions this afternoon. Thank you.