Ulf Kristersson

Prime Minister, Sweden

🔴LIVE | Ulf Kristersson Speaks at NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara | AC113

📅 Jul 07, 2026 POTUS Tracker 32 MIN 128 VIEWS 29 SEGMENTS · 9 SPEAKERS

#UlfKristersson #PalJonson #Sweden #NATO #NATOSummit #Ankara #Turkey #Defense #Security #Europe #EUInsider #LIVE 🔴LIVE | Ulf Kristersson Speaks at NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara | AC113 Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Defence Minister Pål Jonson address the media at the NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara. The press conference comes as NATO leaders gather to discuss defense cooperation, security challenges, and alliance priorities. For more details, watch our story and subscribe to our channel, OPTUS Tracker.

What Ulf Kristersson said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, speaking at the NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, discussed Sweden's support for Ukraine, including Patriot missile packages and Gripen fighter jets. He said Ukraine has the right to defend itself inside and outside its territory under international law. Kristersson clarified that Sweden has procured three Global Eye surveillance aircraft, with the first arriving in early 2027, operating from Sweden, while NATO's pooling arrangement involves up to 10 Global Eyes based in Germany. He defended the decision to prioritize F-16s and provide Erieye aircraft instead of Gripen fighters earlier, citing pilot and integration constraints. He noted that Ukraine's long-term procurement includes 16 new Gripen fighters, with Sweden also providing 16 pre-owned ones. Kristersson mentioned a Ukrainian pilot who called the Gripen a 'game changer' after test flights.

Key takeaways

Sweden will deliver the first Gripen fighters to Ukraine early next year, with training underway.
Sweden has procured three Global Eye aircraft, with the first operating from Sweden starting in early 2027.
Ukraine's long-term procurement includes 16 new Gripen fighters, plus 16 pre-owned ones from Sweden.
Kristersson said Ukraine has the right to defend itself inside and outside its territory under international law.
Sweden provided Erieye aircraft to enhance F-16 capabilities, delaying Gripen deliveries to avoid integration issues.

Numbers and commitments

Figure	What it refers to	Type	At
early 2027	First Global Eye operational from Sweden	timeline	4:07
10	Global Eye aircraft in NATO pooling arrangement	metric	4:07
3	Global Eye aircraft procured by Sweden	metric	3:09
16	New Gripen fighters for Ukraine in long-term procurement	metric	7:44
16	Pre-owned Gripen fighters provided to Ukraine	metric	7:44

Chapters

0:00Patriot missile packages for Ukraine
3:35Global Eye delivery timeline
4:07NATO Global Eye pooling arrangement
5:38Sweden's commitment to arming Ukraine
7:44Baltic Sea security and Swedish capabilities
12:00F-16 vs Gripen decision defense

Questions asked in this interview

0:47Would Sweden allow Ukraine to do that?
3:09Can you clarify what you meant by that?
3:53And would there ever be plans to create sort of a Global Eye hub for NATO inside of Sweden, or would they just be dispersed where operations are needed?
5:38And Ulf Kristersson, why is Sweden so strongly committed to weaponizing Ukraine, sending Gripen, even new Grippens to Ukraine? Why so?
6:31So that's why they flew it all the time. So what can I say?
10:11And if there's a decision up to the alliance, will Sweden be in favor of it?
12:00Do you think it would have been better if decisions would have been otherwise?

Michael Johansson 0:00 ↗

Initial capability that we have been discussing. And then the pricing has not finally been agreed because there's no contract yet. But as I've said in other interviews, depending on configuration and also the infrastructure setup and all that, roughly 400 to 450 million US per aircraft. That's sort of the magnitude, but that doesn't mean we have a finally agreed price. But roughly 10 cross, that's of course not sort of a price issue as I see it. What I've heard, it's more about the concepts of operations.

Moderator 0:36 ↗

Okay, we'll take the lady in the front row over here, dark hair.

Charlie Hancock 0:47 ↗

Thank you. Charlie Hancock, Moscow Times, independent Russian media in exile in the Netherlands. Mr. Johansson, Ukraine wasn't able to intercept any missiles during Sunday night's horrible attack on major Ukrainian cities. Largely that was attributed to a lack of Patriot missiles. Is the Patriot program fit for purpose for getting Ukraine the equipment it needs quickly enough? And if I may, on the Gripen program with the Meteor missiles, Ukraine would be able to strike targets within not only occupied Ukraine, but Russia itself. Would Sweden allow Ukraine to do that?

Ulf Kristersson 1:29 ↗

Well, just coming home from Ukraine, spending five days there last week, let me say, of course, the situation is dire when it comes to handling the ballistic missiles. We just a few weeks ago made and pledged a new Patriot package. Our experience is that the Patriot packages are very important because they provide capabilities to handle incoming ballistic missiles. So my understanding, and when I talk to my Ukrainian colleagues, they say that the Patriot packages are very important. Of course, with Lockheed Martin, it's closely advised to scale up production of capabilities in order to handle it. But the Patriots are delivering. That was the message I was getting from the Ukrainian side. Then you asked about the Gripen fighters, and they have long-range air-to-air capabilities, which also could, for example, include Meteor. The glide bombs that the Ukrainian armed forces are exposed to, that could force the Russian air force to move further away as well. So that is certainly an incentive, of course, for the Ukrainian side also to obtain the Gripen system. As you know, our objective is to provide the first Grippens early next year, and training is of course being undertaken as we speak.

Ukraine has the right to defend itself inside and outside of its territory, according to international law, of course.

Moderator 2:58 ↗

Thank you. Next question goes to the lady at the end of the first row.

Elizabeth Gossamo 3:09 ↗

Hi. Elizabeth Gossamo from Breaking Defense. My question is for the Swedish prime minister. Earlier during the announcement, I just wanted to clarify, you said that we would see the Global Eyes operating from Swedish bases starting from 2027, if I understood that correctly. And now we were talking about delivering the aircraft to NATO by 2030. Can you clarify what you meant by that?

Ulf Kristersson 3:35 ↗

Well, I just stated the fact that we use them ourselves as well. And we have a generational shift from the old model to Global Eye, and that has been going on for the last years, and they will be operational early next year, early next year.

Elizabeth Gossamo 3:53 ↗

And would there ever be plans to create sort of a Global Eye hub for NATO inside of Sweden, or would they just be dispersed where operations are needed?

Michael Johansson 4:05 ↗

Above my pay level, please.

Ulf Kristersson 4:07 ↗

Well, these Global Eyes are of course the 10 Global Eyes are supposed to be operating from Germany. Then of course we have procured three Global Eyes, getting the first one starting from early 2027, which will be operating from Sweden. So there's both bilaterally, countries are procuring from Saab, and then we have the pooling and sharing arrangement with up to 10 Global Eyes within the confines under the authority of NATO, of course.

Moderator 4:35 ↗

Thank you. Next question goes to TV4, first row here.

TV4 Reporter 4:42 ↗

I have a question for Mr. Michael Johansson. You mentioned that the Global Eye had already proved itself in conflict situations. Can you elaborate a little bit more on that?

Michael Johansson 4:54 ↗

Well, obviously, I mean that it's been flying 24/7 during the Iran conflict in the Middle East. But it's been flying in the Middle East to check threats for a long time, but that's apparently a conflict where it's been used a lot.

TV4 Reporter 5:10 ↗

And did you get a report back from the United Arab Emirates about how it performed?

14 more exchanges in this transcript

Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX

APA

Kristersson, U. (2026, July 7). 🔴LIVE | Ulf Kristersson Speaks at NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara | AC113 [Interview transcript]. POTUS Tracker. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2958352/

MLA

Ulf Kristersson. "🔴LIVE | Ulf Kristersson Speaks at NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara | AC113." POTUS Tracker, 7 Jul. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2958352/.

BibTeX

@misc{kristersson2026_2958352,
  author       = {Ulf Kristersson},
  title        = {🔴LIVE | Ulf Kristersson Speaks at NATO Defence Industry Forum in Ankara | AC113},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, POTUS Tracker. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {jul},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2958352/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}

▶

Key Quotes (2)

“Well, just coming home from Ukraine, spending five days there last week, let me say, of course, the situation is dire when it comes to handling the ballistic missiles. We just a few weeks ago made and pledged to a new support package. Our experience is that the support packages are very important because they provide Patriots to handle incoming ballistic missiles. So my understanding and when I ta”

▶ 1:29 POLICY

“Well, I think if you combine the Swedish maritime resources, not least the submarines and then the GlobalEye and the Gripen fighters, I think it's fair to say that in our part of the world, including Europe, the Baltic Sea has never been as protected and as surveilled as it is right now. And for good reasons because it hasn't been as challenged as it is today either. So there is a... I think we ar”

▶ 7:50 POLICY

Mentioned in this interview

Lockheed Martin LMT: Advised to scale up production of Patriot capabilities.

Saab SAAB-B.ST: Countries procuring Global Eye from Saab.

Volodymyr Zelensky: Met with Kristersson in Uppsala; discussed Gripen training.

Erieye: Predecessor to Global Eye, provided to Ukraine to enhance F-16s.

Meteor: Long-range air-to-air missile for Gripen fighters.

F-16: Sweden part of F-16 coalition, provided Erieye to support them.

Poland: Made agreement on 16 new Gripen fighters for Ukraine.

Earlier, on the same topics

“Today's letter of intent is something else. It does not aim at any new donations right now. Instead, it is about a long-term cooperation on air defense and the possibilities for a very large defense industrial deal. Probably somewhere between 100 and 150 Gripen fighter aircraft of the model E that b”

Oct 22, 2025 at 3:51 →

“The new thing is not Russian interest in trying to affect Sweden in a negative way and to do hostile things in the Baltic Sea. The new thing is our ability to defend ourselves collectively. That's the new thing and I think the Baltic sentry has proven that in a very important way. All the Baltic Sea”

Jun 13, 2025 at 22:54 →

“I think two things are worth mentioning. First thing, every country needs to make their own decisions on what to deploy, what contributions to be made in terms of money, in terms of military equipment. In the same way we expect other countries to respect what we are doing, of course we respect other”

Nov 19, 2025 at 33:02 →

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About Ulf Kristersson

Ulf Kristersson, Sweden's Prime Minister and leader of the Moderaterna party, cast his vote in the country's general election on September 13, 2026, in his hometown of Strängnäs. In remarks to media, he described the election as a choice between "two completely different views on fundamental justice issues," citing mortgage tax and volume discount policies as key differences between his blue-yellow bloc and the red-green opposition. He expressed confidence in his coalition's preparedness, noting that his government had negotiated for four years and confirmed eight consecutive budgets, and said he felt "very hopeful" about the outcome. He also commented on the parliamentary landscape, observing that with eight parties in the Riksdag and no party close to a majority, the ability to compromise is essential for governing. In the weeks before the election, Kristersson participated in a televised debate with Social Democratic challenger Magdalena Andersson, where he criticized her party's approach to crime and elder care, and was questioned in his hometown by SVT. He defended his government's record on immigration, stating there is "no deportation policy" but that Sweden had tightened "an overly extensive asylum immigration" while seeking to increase highly qualified labor immigration. In an interview with The Economist in May, he discussed Sweden's NATO membership, saying the country had historically relied heavily on the U.S. while formally neutral, and that joining NATO had deepened cooperation with neighboring allies. He also witnessed the signing of a €4.3 billion agreement with France in August for the acquisition of four frigates, which he described as a significant investment in Sweden's defense capabilities.

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