All right, good afternoon everyone and welcome. We are preparing for the meeting of NATO defense ministers which will be held here tomorrow and we will start this afternoon with a statement from the secretary general followed by your questions.
Thank you so much and welcome. Good afternoon. Tomorrow indeed, NATO defense ministers will meet here at NATO headquarters as we prepare for the summit in Ankara, which is now less than five months from now. When leaders gather in Turkey in July, we will build on the historic decisions made at the summit in The Hague last year. It was there that allies agreed to ensure that NATO is a stronger, a fairer alliance, including by increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 and substantially boosting our defense industry. Tomorrow I look forward to hearing from ministers on how allies are implementing these decisions, how each is delivering to ensure our common security. Investment is up by tens of billions. Take Germany for example. Germany by 2029 will spend 152 billion euros on defense. That is more than double what they were spending in 2021. So in eight years they will double their defense spending going up to 152 billion euros. Just one example, of course a very big ally but still one example from many. We will talk of course tomorrow about how allies are planning further increases to their defense spending, ensuring that there is a credible path to our common goal. As allies invest more, it is crucial that the capabilities we need are available to buy. So, we are building our defense industrial base. We need to produce more. This means more air defense, more ammunition and stronger supply chains across the alliance. We need to move faster, adopting new technologies, accelerating procurement and ensuring our defense industry can deliver at speed and can deliver at scale. We need this on both sides of the Atlantic. And we need to work together across the Atlantic. And yes, we are seeing progress. We are also seeing progress when it comes to sharing responsibility for leadership in our NATO command structure. Just last week, allies agreed a new distribution of senior officer posts with European allies taking on greater responsibility, including the newest NATO members. And this is good news. We are doing this together, redistributing roles in ways that make sense for all involved. Tomorrow we'll also discuss our support for Ukraine. I was there last week and saw the impact of Russia's relentless attacks, including on critical civilian infrastructure. And once again, President Putin is trying to break the people of Ukraine, hoping to weaken their resolve. But Ukraine and the Ukrainian people have shown time and again that they will not be broken. Still, Ukraine cannot sustain this fight or secure the peace alone. And this is why allies have backed Ukraine with action, not just words. Since the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion nearly four years ago, 99% of all military support to Ukraine has come from NATO allies and partners. And NATO continues to strengthen the coordination and the delivery of that support. Coordination through our command in Wiesbaden, training and lessons learned at our center in Bydgoszcz, political consultation in the NATO-Ukraine Council and practical support through the comprehensive assistance package. Our PURL initiative continues to deliver vital US equipment for Ukraine with funding provided by allies and partners. The support delivered through PURL saves lives in Ukraine every single day. Tomorrow, NATO ministers will be joined by Ukraine's new defense minister, Rustem Umerov, and we will discuss how allies can enhance their support and also how they can make it more effective. We will also be joined by the European Union. The European Union is an essential partner of NATO. Our cooperation including on support for Ukraine is crucial for our shared security. Throughout 2025, allies continued to strengthen deterrence and defense across the alliance, including through Baltic Sentry to enhance the protection of critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea and Eastern Sentry, which reinforces vigilance along the eastern flank of the alliance. Which brings me to the Arctic. The Arctic and the high north are increasingly important for our collective security. NATO and allies have been sharpening our focus on the region. We regularly conduct exercises in the Arctic, ensuring that we are ready to fight and operate in all conditions. Finland and Sweden's membership greatly enhances NATO's posture in the region and our Arctic capabilities. Still, in the face of Russia's increased military activity and China's growing interest in the high north, it was crucial that we do more, which is why we have just two hours ago launched Arctic Sentry. Arctic Sentry leverages the strength of the alliance by bringing together NATO and allied activities in the high north into one overarching operational approach to the region. Initially, it will bring together exercises like Denmark's Arctic Endurance and Norway's Cold Response activities involving tens of thousands of personnel and the equipment they need to operate successfully in Arctic conditions, making clear our commitment to ensuring Arctic security and indeed the security of the whole alliance together. If we continue to synchronize these and other efforts under NATO, we will not only build our posture in the region alone, but we will also build a more cohesive picture of potential challenges in the Arctic so that any gaps can be quickly and effectively addressed. So tomorrow's meeting is about making NATO stronger by delivering on our defense investment and defense industrial commitments, strengthening our deterrence and defense and sustaining our support for Ukraine. Of course, I look very much forward to the discussions. And with that, for now, I'm ready to take your questions.
Okay. Let's start with Reuters, fourth row.
Thank you, Secretary General. Andrew Gray from Reuters. Can you tell us some more about Arctic Sentry? I mean, what you just mentioned, there are a couple of exercises which are already being planned. So, is this just a rebranding exercise of existing efforts or if not what is new about it?
What is really new about it is that for the first time now, we will bring everything we do in the Arctic together under one command. And by doing that, and we have seen the same in the Baltic region, we have seen the same when it comes to Eastern Sentry, we will not only be able to leverage what we are doing much more effectively and having a bigger impact. We will also be able to assess which gaps there are which we have to fill and of course we will fill them. But it will also bring into this whole equation the help of our Allied Command Transformation. There's the latest technologies. We have seen this in the Baltic Sea when it comes to securing our critical undersea infrastructure, but also when it comes to Eastern Sentry where not only the aim was to bring together in a much more effective and leveraging way what we are doing on the eastern flank but also to make sure that we are better in countering the drones but also becoming more effective in using the latest drone technologies ourselves learning from Ukraine. This is what we will do in a sense. Bringing together the latest technological insights from Admiral Pierre Vandier and his team from ACT, Allied Command Transformation. So this is really big. This is a huge thing. It has never happened before under the command of course by our Supreme Allied Commander delegated to Joint Force Command Norfolk.
Okay coming over here fourth row Wall Street Journal.
Hello. Thank you very much. Dan Michaels with the Wall Street Journal. Good to see you. Thanks. About the defense ministers tomorrow. US Defense Secretary Hegseth won't be coming. Instead, he's sending his deputy Elbridge Colby. Colby has been quite outspoken on Europe needing to step up more on conventional deterrence, defense. Has also said that Ukraine is not significant for the US. It's a European issue. Has he, first off, have you gotten any indications from the US about anything in particular on his agenda for the ministerial? And also this is now the second ministerial where the US hasn't sent a cabinet secretary. Does that send a message to NATO from the US? Thank you.
Well, on the second question, no. I don't believe that at all. I must say my discussions, my engagements with the senior US leadership be it in the White House, the Pentagon, State Department is as intensive as ever. And these guys are working around the globe. They of course NATO is important, but they also have to work on the western hemisphere. They have to work on the Indo-Pacific. So I totally accept that not always the most senior ministers can be here and Elbridge Colby is a very important guy. He is the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. We've become close friends, good friends over the last 18 months. So I'm very happy he's here and we have the opportunity to engage with him and I think that is very positive. And on your first question, I'm really proud of what the Europeans are doing. I'm a European myself. I'm proud because when you look at the numbers only a year ago Pete Hegseth was here really giving a speech and rightly so saying hey guys you have to do more here in Europe and look what happened not only because the US asking this but also because collectively we made the analysis that the Russian threat is there that we need to do much more not only today to be able to counter the Russians but also longer term in 27, 29, 31 and therefore we have to spend more we have to build a defense industrial base keep Ukraine strong in the fight and look what has happened since then the whole of NATO on 2% all NATO allies on 2% ultimately in 25 but also when it comes to the support for Ukraine where the US is still delivering essential defense industrial gear into Ukraine but now paid for by allies and partners. Look what's happening the Germans are doing in Lithuania building this up to a full brigade look at the flex post as I just mentioned where Europe is now taking the command of the let's say the commands which will really do the actual war fighting where the US will still be heavily involved of course in the component command. So this is all evidence of I think Europe stepping up and this is exactly what the US wanted. US Europe becoming stronger in its own defense but also still with a very strong US presence both nuclear and conventional.
Stay on this side of the room just in front of him this gentleman on the aisle.
Daniel K, First Western and Channel 24. I would like to ask you about security guarantees for Ukraine. Based on your most recent interactions with US President Donald Trump, should Ukraine trust President Trump's promise on so-called Article 5-like guarantee and if Russia violates a future possible deal? Do you believe that the US would really be ready to fight Russia in Ukraine, commit any kind of air power, troops on the ground?
I think the great progress being made over the last six months has to do with the security guarantees and there are three elements to that. One element obviously the first element most important element is Ukrainian armed forces. They will be the first line of defense for Ukraine post a peace deal or a long-term ceasefire and let's pray that we get to that peace deal or long-term ceasefire as soon as possible. And then we have the coalition of the willing led by the French and the Brits who came together with many allies and partners discussing how collectively we can support Ukraine post a peace deal or long-term ceasefire and then in August last year it was indeed as you rightly say the American president saying we will get involved and that has been detailed and worked through over the last four or five months and we had a very successful meeting. I was myself participating in that meeting in Paris in December. But obviously we need a peace deal before security guarantees can kick into gear and here the big question is whether the Russians are willing to play ball and what we are testing at the moment collectively under the leadership of the American president and his team in his engagement with the Russians and the Ukrainians is whether the Russians are willing to play ball so that we can bring this terrible war to a lasting end where they will never ever try again to attack Ukraine. This is where we need security guarantees.
Here in the center, the woman with the red jacket.
Thank you. Charlie Hanok, Moscow Times. Hi. Independent Russian news in exile in the Netherlands. Would you encourage European countries to reopen dialogue with Moscow on any level as President Macron has said it could be useful for them to do so?
Well, it's not up to me to advise allies, but I think of course every ally is open and can do what the French have been doing and I know that they closely coordinate with other allies, with the US, with European allies. There's complete transparency what they are doing and I would encourage every initiative which will bring this terrible war faster to an end. We all agree that US leadership is key here. It was the American president breaking the deadlock. But I think every initiative which will bring this war to an end and will bring that faster to an end can be encouraged.
All right, we'll go behind the cameras now. AFP in the second row there.
Thanks a lot. Mark, you were recently in Kyiv and you saw the country under heavy bombardment and the huge toll that's taking. Do you think now is the right time for Ukraine to focus on holding elections? Did you receive any indication from them that they were planning to hold elections? And do you think President Zelensky should be under pressure to hold elections?
We always took the position that it's up to the Ukrainians to decide what ultimately they can accept in terms of a peace deal, particularly when it comes to the very sensitive issue of territory, but also what that would mean in terms of how they will bring an ultimate peace deal or a long-term ceasefire deal to the Ukrainian population. It's really up to them. So, I leave that really with the Ukrainians. I have full trust in the Ukrainian leadership and the Ukrainian democracy. So that's ultimately up to them in line with their constitution and how they are used to organize these sort of very important events.
Okay, we'll stay in that neighborhood. The woman there with the black sweater.
Hello. I'm Maria Sus from Finland from Yle. A few weeks ago you were talking about if Europe can defend itself or not without the United States. Could you describe what is missing from Europe if we can't defend ourselves and do you think that it's so important that the United States and Europe are together that this is the reason why you said like you did?
Well, I think we most of us in Europe and in the US and Canada agree that there is a lot of value in sticking together because NATO is there not only to protect Europe and Canada but also the United States. I mean for the US to stay safe going forward they need a secure Arctic, a secure Europe and a secure Atlantic and for Europe to stay safe of course we need this close cooperation transatlantic. But at the same time let me as I said before tell you as a European I'm really proud of what Europe is doing. It is really stepping up. It is ramping up. The defense investments are at a staggering pace now ramping up. We will see much more this year and next year when we start to see coming on stream all the extra investments coming out of the The Hague summit which was very successful. We see Europe taking more responsibility when it comes to arms delivery into Ukraine, paid for by European and Canadian allies and partners. We see it when, as I said, when it comes to the command structure within NATO where Europeans are taking a bigger responsibility. We see Canada, Canada is back in NATO on the 2% leading the charge when it comes to the support for Ukraine. So, I'm really proud there. And we also all agree that there is a clear division of labor between the EU and NATO. There's no debate there. So, I think we can be really comfortable with how things are going.
Just behind her, the man with the beard.
With the beard. Thank you very much. Bonquist, Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Can you be a little bit more specific on the Arctic Sentry? How sort of how that will take off in the coming weeks and months and what role will countries such as Iceland and Norway, which are obviously, you know, closest to the area play in this mission? Thank you.
Yes, you will accept that I cannot tell you everything because we do this because we have a clear sense that the Russians and the Chinese are becoming more and more active there. So this is also to make sure that this vital part of NATO territory is safe and secure. So that means that there is a limit to what I can share with you here. But I already mentioned Denmark's Arctic Endurance, already mentioned Norway's Cold Response. Let me add that SHAPE that's here in Mons but also JFC Norfolk will collaborate as I said with ACT, Allied Command Transformation and coordinate activities with NORAD and as well with the US Northern Command and US European Command. So I can give you that as an extra. This is an enhanced vigilant activity like Baltic Sentry like Eastern Sentry that is directly under the authority of the Supreme Allied Commander. But there I have to stop because whatever I tell you more would inform the people in Moscow and Beijing a bit too much.
All right, second row near the center, the man with the blue shirt.
Yes. Thank you very much. Stephan Israel, Table Media. On Arctic Sentry, my question is did you talk about this with President Trump? Are you sure that he's on board that he's satisfied? Is it that what he actually wanted at the beginning when he said he wants to have Greenland? Are you sure that he will not come up with new requests later on? And will the Americans participate in this activity? Is it a permanent one? Will there be troops also on Greenland or are you just shipping around Greenland actually? Thank you.
Well, as I mentioned to the media coming out of my meeting in Davos with the American president, basically it's important that we collectively understand that he has a and that he is very clear on Arctic security and risks of the opening sea lanes we see there and that it means that the Russians and the Chinese will become increasingly more active there and therefore we have to be very watchful and not naive. That's basically what he's saying. And as I mentioned to the media coming out of that meeting, there will be a few work streams and this is one making sure that NATO collectively will take more responsibility for the protection of the Arctic and Arctic Sentry is a clear result of that. But also, you know, that the talks ongoing between the Danes and Greenlanders and the US. So I think that's all very important and that's particularly focusing on making sure that whatever investments that are being made in Greenland that they are long-term secure but also that the Russians and the Chinese do not get access to the Greenland economy. But this is old news. I already told you this not you personally but the media after my Davos meetings.
