Prague, 30-31 May 2024
NATO Foreign Ministers concluded two days of meetings and events in Prague, Czechia on Friday (31 May 2024) with an informal session of the North Atlantic Council. In a meeting chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Allies made progress on preparations for the Washington Summit in July and agreed that providing support to Ukraine should remain a top priority.
Speaking after the Council, the Secretary General said that NATO will take a greater coordination role in providing equipment and training to Ukraine, saying this would “provide more predictability for Kyiv and address both immediate and longer-term needs.” He highlighted the fact “practically all military aid to Ukraine – 99 percent – comes from NATO Allies” affirming it made sense that NATO should play “a greater role” in these efforts. The Secretary General has also proposed a multi-year financial pledge for Ukraine.
“Russia must understand that it cannot wait us out,” the Secretary General said highlighting the fact that since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, “Allies have provided approximately 40 billion euros worth of military aid to Ukraine each year.” Mr Stoltenberg emphasised that, in order to accelerate the end of the war, NATO members must maintain “at least” current levels of support to Ukraine “for as long as necessary.”
Source – NATO
Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following the Informal meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Prague
31 May. 2024
(As delivered)
Good afternoon.
We have just concluded a productive meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers. Our discussions focused on our support for Ukraine.
We all want to stop this war. But the paradox is that the better we prepare for the long haul, the sooner the war can end. Russia must understand that it cannot wait us out.
No final decisions were made today, but we made significant progress on three issues.
First, NATO’s plans to play a greater coordinating role in the provision of equipment and training. Practically all military aid to Ukraine – 99 percent – comes from NATO Allies. So, it makes sense that NATO should play a greater role in these efforts. This will enable us to use the NATO structures to put our support on a firmer footing, provide more predictability to Kyiv, and address both immediate and longer-term needs.
Secondly, I have proposed that Allies commit to a multi-year financial pledge for Ukraine. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Allies have provided approximately 40 billion euros worth of military support to Ukraine each year. We must maintain at least this level of support each year, for as long as necessary. I have also proposed that Allies should share this burden equitably. This will improve accountability, and give Ukraine the predictability they need to plan for the long term.
Finally, we discussed Ukraine’s path to NATO membership. Allies agree that Ukraine’s future is in NATO. And we are determined to make progress in charting this path. Membership will be Ukraine’s ultimate security guarantee. It will ensure a lasting peace; And provide the stability needed for reconstruction.
Let me add this on Allied support and the question of escalation.
Russia started this war. They annexed Crimea in 2014. And in 2022, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War 2. Russia is striking hospitals, schools, and shopping malls. Russia is bombing power and water infrastructure. Russia is killing Ukrainian civilians.
Ukraine is defending itself from appalling Russian brutality. So, let me be clear. Self-defence is not escalation. Self-defence is a fundamental right. It is enshrined in the UN Charter. Ukraine has the right, and the responsibility, to protect its people. And we have the right to help Ukraine uphold its right to self-defence.
Of course, Russia does not like this. At every stage of this war Russia has complained, threatened and sabre-rattled. Putin wanted to deter NATO Allies from supporting Ukraine. But we are not and we will not be deterred. Russia is the one attacking. Russia is the one escalating. Most recently by opening a new front in the Kharkiv region. And with waves of new strikes on Ukrainian citizens.
As the war has evolved, our support has evolved. And it will continue to evolve. I welcome that Allies are providing many different types of assistance. And at the NATO Summit, we will put NATO’s support on a firmer footing for the long haul.
NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah: Thank you, Secretary General. I’ll start with Bloomberg, Andrea.
Andrea Palasciano (Bloomberg): [question inaudible]
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: Well, we are speaking about money for the future. And that’s per definition fresh. We have already spent roughly 40 billion per year so far, but [what] I’m asking Allies to do is to commit that for the following years. That’s new money, because that’s money which is not there now. And the important thing is that we need predictability.
We need a firm commitment for the long haul to ensure that Ukraine is able to plan, to ensure that Ukraine has the predictability they need to conduct this war, self-defence, but also to send a message to Moscow. That Moscow cannot wait us out. So the more clear it is that we are prepared for long haul, the sooner this war can end. Because the sooner President Putin realizes that he cannot win this war, we will be there for as long as necessary.
Let me just add before we continue that I also like to thank the Czech authorities, the Czech government and the foreign minister for hosting this event. The foreign ministerial has been excellent and the surroundings, the city of Prague, the castle has been an excellent venue for a very important foreign ministerial meeting in NATO.
NATO Spokesperson: Okay, thank you. Czech TV.
David Mirejovsky (Czech TV): Secretary General, could you provide us with more details about the future of Ukraine in NATO, do you have some timing in your mind, is it years or long future?
NATO Secretary General: NATO Allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance. We are working on how to move Ukraine closer to membership. At the Vilnius Summit we agreed important steps. We removed the requirement for something called Membership Action Plan, meaning that we turned the membership process for Ukraine from a two-step process to a one-step process.
And we also agree a comprehensive package for interoperability to ensure that Ukraine comes closer to NATO standards, doctrines and full interoperability with NATO. Then I hope that at the Summit in Washington we can take further steps and also believe strongly that the fact that we will most likely establish a mission or stronger structure for providing support to Ukraine. That will help to move Ukraine closer to membership. And of course, anything we do together with Ukraine will help them to come closer to membership. So Allies agree that Ukraine should be a member, but the timing of the invitation depends on when there will be consensus and when the conditions are met.
NATO Spokesperson: Thank you, Dan.
Dan Michaels (Wall Street Journal): Thank you. The announcement yesterday, or decision yesterday by the US, Germany and maybe some other Allies about possibly striking into Russia, retaliatory strikes into Russia seems to be the latest example of NATO members coming around to a position that Ukraine and some Allies have been begging for a long time, often less than what Ukraine wants but actually relenting over the past day. Has there been any discussion or is there any ongoing discussion about trying to get more ahead on some of these tactics and enabling Ukraine to do more to actually pursue the strategy that you’ve outlined? Thank you.
NATO Secretary General: As this war has evolved, also NATO support has evolved. That demonstrates that when they are now attacking Ukraine from inside Russia, on the other side of the border, when the border line or the front line is more or less the same, then of course the only way to attack behind enemy lines is also then to strike into Russian territory. Allies are providing support in different ways. Some Allies have never imposed any restrictions, other Allies have eased their restrictions. We just need to be vigilant. We need to adapt and evolve our support as the war evolves. And of course, we addressed these issues in the meeting today, and will continue to coordinate very closely. That’s also one of the reasons why I believe it will be helpful to have a stronger NATO coordination and the long-term financial pledge in line with what I have proposed.
NATO Spokesperson: Okay, FAZ, Thomas, over there. Thank you.
Thomas Gutschker (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung): Thanks a lot, Thomas Gutschker, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Secretary General, again two questions on the multi-year pledge. So do I understand you correctly that you no longer call for Allies to make commitments for the time after the war? Because of course, the 40 billion refers to wartime contributions. And secondly, when you say that the burden should be spread equitably among Allies, are you referring to the NATO spending key? So contributions to common costs and NATO. Thank you.
NATO Secretary General: So we will now start the work on the details of such a financial pledge and there’s no way I can go into all the details before I presented them to all the Allies and before we have worked through those details. But I strongly believe that we need the financial pledge, both to address immediate needs, but also to address the need to build a future force. This is about making Ukrainians able to defend themselves today, and to deter future attacks in the future. So it’s a combination of short term and long term.
And of course, many of the things we do now as immediate response to the immediate needs, for instance, providing F-16s as part of the immediate response, immediate needs for Ukraine to defend themselves today. But of course, many of those capabilities will also be part of the future force to deter any attack in the future. So I think this distinction between the future force and the needs today is a bit artificial.
These things are linked and therefore, I think also, it makes sense that NATO plays a role both in building the future force and in coordinating the support for helping the Ukrainians to deter aggression or to defend aggression today.
And then, again, details on burden sharing. We have to come back to that. But, but of course, GDP has been used before. GDP is a way that reflects the economic strength, the income of each and every country. So when we discuss burden sharing in NATO, that’s at least one option we can look into. And again, I can be more precise later on in this process. And at the Summit, I expect to be able to tell you all the details.
NATO Spokesperson: Okay, thank you, over to New York Times.
Edward Wong (The New York Times): Hi, Secretary General, Edward Wong from the New York Times. Earlier in the war, one of the main reasons why restrictions were placed on the use of weapons by various Allied countries is because of the fear that President Putin would order the use of a tactical nuclear weapon in the battlefield in Ukraine. I’m wondering what has changed in that assessment? Do you have new intelligence that shows that the threshold is higher than you previously believed? Do you think that the Allied countries made a mistake earlier in being too fearful of this and have China and India exercised influence on Putin since then?
NATO Secretary General: I think you need to understand that these are national decisions and different Allies have provided different types of support and many Allies have not imposed any restrictions. So that’s nothing new that NATO Allies don’t have restrictions. They give the weapons to Ukraine. And of course, they all assume that they will be used in line with international law, but international law opens up for the use against military targets in Russia because that’s part of self-defence. Then other Allies have had more restrictions. But, some of these restrictions are now eased or reduced, reflecting that the war has changed.
Because now the frontline is not inside Ukraine. Most of the fighting so far happened deep inside Ukraine, but now the fighting is in Kharkiv region, on the border between Russia and Ukraine. And it makes sense also then to adapt any restrictions that would make it impossible for Ukrainians to hit back against artillery positions, missile positions in Russia directly attacking Ukrainian forces or Ukrainian cities.
President Putin has threatened NATO Allies since the beginning of the war. He has been out there again and again. Actually the day before the invasion he gave a speech where he threatened any Ally that provided support to Ukraine.
But we are not being deterred. Because if we had been deterred by that message, then we couldn’t have given any support. He tried to prevent us from giving any military support. He tried to prevent us from providing armour, advanced missile systems, fighter jets, and we have evolved and stepped up our support because we strongly believe that Ukraine has the right for self-defence and we have the right to help Ukraine upholding the right to self-defence.
NATO Spokesperson: Okay, thank you. European Pravda.
Sergiy Sydorenko (European Pravda): Thank you, European Pravda, Ukraine. I have a question about this long-term support. We know that some Allies are not willing to provide Ukraine with military assistance. How do you see, could this decision be adopted in a way that it would not be able to veto it? If one country decides not to grant military assistance to Ukraine? Thank you.
NATO Secretary General: I’m confident that we will reach good conclusions that will ensure that NATO Allies of course will continue to provide support to Ukraine and that we’ll have a stronger NATO framework around that support to ensure coordination and predictability and accountability. Because we need to ensure that when support is announced, pledged, that actually that turns into real deliveries to Ukraine and we are seeing some discrepancies between what has been promised and what has been delivered. So, for better coordination, for better compliance, for ensuring predictability, I strongly believe that NATO should play a bigger role in coordinating the support.
And we will find ways to ensure that these decisions will work and will not be blocked. I will not make my job easier if I share with you all the details of how we are discussing these issues. So, at the end of the day, I will present you with the beautiful conclusion and then I can tell all the details.
NATO Spokesperson: Okay, the lady in the fourth row.
Olivia Gazis (CBS News): Thank you, Sir. Chinese defence minister today denied again that China is providing any assistance to Russia’s war effort saying it was impartial in the matter and that it strictly controls its military exports. Meanwhile, of course the US Deputy Secretary of State has said this week that it’s a sustained effort backed by PRC leadership and designed to give Russia every support. A UK official recently suggested that lethal aid is on its way to Beijing. So, after these months of sustained diplomatic pressure, what is NATO observing in the trends in China? Is its support for Russia increasing and is lethal aid a possibility? Thank you.
NATO Secretary General: China is propping up Russia’s war economy. Russia would not have been able to conduct the war of aggression against Ukraine without the support from China. China is delivering big amounts of dual use equipment, advanced electronic equipment including high-end technology and semiconductors and 90% of the microelectronics that Russia imported last year came from China. And without these advanced high-end products, Russia would not have been able to produce the missiles, the bombs, the planes they are producing to attack Ukraine.
So, there is no doubt that China is playing a key role in enabling the Russians to produce the weapons they use to attack Ukraine. And in return, Moscow is mortgaging its future to Beijing. And then on top of that, you have North Korea providing big amounts of ammunition and Iran providing drones and other types of weapons to Russia.
NATO Spokesperson: Okay, one last question for Asahi Shimbun. Please, go ahead.
Mizuho Morioka (The Asahi Shimbun): [inaudible] … and what will be discussed in the July Summit with Indo Pacific partners? And, is there any progress since last year?
NATO Secretary General: Yes. And I think the war in Ukraine and the issue we just addressed about how China is playing an important role to enable Russia to attack Ukraine demonstrate that security is not regional anymore. Security is global. The war in Ukraine is something that can take place because North Korea, Iran and China are providing support to Russia. So, it demonstrates the link between Europe and Asia Pacific. And what happens in Asia Pacific matters for Europe and vice versa. So, I look forward to welcoming the Heads of State and Government from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia. We strongly believe that we should strengthen our partnerships with these countries, not least to address the challenges that China poses to our security. And of course, this matters for these partners. It matters for us, and therefore we need to strengthen our cooperation as we will do at the Summit in Washington.
NATO Spokesperson: Thank you Secretary General and thank you all.
NATO Secretary General: Thank you so much.
Source – NATO