NATO Secretary General, Press Conference at Defence Ministers Meeting, 16 MAR 2022

Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following the second day of the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence, 16 March 2022.

🗣 | NATO Secretary General:

Good afternoon.

We have just finished an extraordinary meeting of NATO Defence Ministers, focused on the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

We addressed our support for Ukraine;
the severe costs we are imposing on Russia;
and NATO’s work to strengthen our defences,
now and for the years to come. 
Our close partners Finland, Sweden, and Georgia, and the European Union joined us for the first session.

And Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov described in stark terms the death and destruction caused by president Putin’s war, the determined resistance of the Ukrainians against the invasion and the importance of our continued support.

We all paid tribute to the courage of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian armed forces.

NATO Allies and partners have supported Ukraine with equipment and training for many years.
We are helping Ukraine to uphold its fundamental right to self-defence, freedom, and democracy with significant amount of critical military equipment.

Today, ministers agreed that we must continue to provide significant support to Ukraine.

Including with military supplies, financial help, and humanitarian aid.

NATO Allies and partners are also hosting millions of Ukrainian refugees.

President Putin must stop the war. Immediately.
Withdraw his forces.
Now.
And engage in diplomacy.
In good faith.

NATO is responding to this crisis with speed and unity.
And next week, Allied Heads of State and Government will meet for an extraordinary NATO Summit.

We will address both our immediate response.
And the changes we need to make for our longer-term security.

Moscow should be in no doubt.
NATO will not tolerate any attack on Allied sovereignty or territorial integrity.

We have already activated our defence plans to shield the Alliance.
Increased our readiness.
And deployed troops from both sides of the Atlantic.

There are now hundreds of thousands of forces at heightened alert across the Alliance.
One hundred thousand US troops in Europe.
And around 40,000 troops under direct NATO command, mostly in the eastern part of the Alliance.

Backed by major air and naval power.
As well as air defences.

But we face a new reality for our security.
So we must reset our collective defence and deterrence for the longer term.

Today we have tasked our military commanders to develop options across all domains. Land, air, sea, cyber and space.

On land, our new posture should include substantially more forces in the eastern part of the Alliance, at higher readiness.
With more prepositioned equipment and supplies.

In the air, more Allied air power.
And strengthened integrated air and missile defence.

At sea, carrier strike groups, submarines and significant numbers of combat ships on a persistent basis.

We will also consider the future of our cyber defences.
And how best to draw on Allied space assets.

We should also train and exercise more often, and in greater numbers.

Major increases to our deterrence and defence will require major investments.

Allies need to invest a minimum of 2% of GDP on defence.

And I welcome that Allies such as Germany and Denmark have already made important announcements on more investments and faster timetables.

We also need to spend more together.

NATO common funding is the essential enabler that allows us to work together.
It is a force multiplier for national defence efforts.
And it shows solidarity as Allies.

At this critical moment for our security, unity between North America and Europe in NATO is more important than ever.

And with that, I am ready to take your questions.

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