NATO Secretary General pre-ministerial press conference at Defence Ministers Meeting, 04 JUN 2025

Pre-ministerial press conference by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels, 4 June 2025.

🗣 | NATO Secretary General:

Thank you and good morning,

NATO Defence Ministers are meeting in Brussels to lay the ground for the Summit in The Hague,
and also take key decisions to enhance our deterrence and defence.
We will also address our continued support for Ukraine, and the urgent need for peace.

The world is becoming more dangerous.
There’s Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine.
The threat of terrorism.
And intense global competition.

We will continue to protect our people and our way of life.
So we must make NATO a stronger, fairer and more lethal Alliance.

At this Ministerial, we are going to take a huge leap forward.

We will strengthen our deterrence and defence by agreeing ambitious new capability targets.

These targets set out what forces and concrete capabilities the Allies need to provide to strengthen our deterrence and defence.
Air and missile defence, long-range weapons, logistics, large land manoeuvre formations are among our top priorities.

We need more resources, forces and capabilities so that we are prepared to face any threat, and to implement our collective defence plans in full.

To deliver on our new targets, it’s clear that we will need significantly higher defence spending.
That underpins everything.

European Allies and Canada have been stepping up.
And I expect that most – if not all Allies will reach the initial aim of spending 2% of GDP on defence this year. Many have invested – or have plans to invest – much, much more.

But we have to go further and we have to go faster.

So we will discuss the urgent need to increase defence spending.
For our core military requirements, and for defence-related investments, including infrastructure and resilience.

A new defence investment plan will be at the heart of the NATO Summit in The Hague.

An essential aspect of investing more is ensuring that there is supply to meet our increased demand. So we will work to increase defence production.
This is needed so that our militaries have the critical capabilities they need.
This is good for our security, and by the way also good for our economies.

Defence spending keeps us safe, but it also creates jobs across the Alliance.

We will also address NATO’s continued support for Ukraine and the need to bring an end to this terrible war.

Later today, NATO Allies, partners and Ukraine will take part in a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, chaired by Germany and the United Kingdom.
This will focus on continued support for Ukraine as it fights back against Russian aggression. And we fully support President Trump’s efforts to stop the bloodshed, with a just and lasting peace.

NATO’s long-term support to Ukraine is not about prolonging the war,
it is about ensuring Ukraine can defend itself now, and prevent any future aggression.

Allies will also meet in the NATO-Ukraine Council tomorrow with Minister Umerov and EU High Representative Kallas.
Minister Umerov will give an update on the battlefield, and offer Ukraine’s assessment on the search for peace.

We are at a pivotal moment for our security.
Make no mistake, NATO is strong today.
And we will become even stronger.

Strong defences send a clear message – no one should ever think of attacking us.

Finally, nuclear deterrence is the cornerstone of Alliance security.
And tomorrow this Ministerial will conclude with a regular meeting of the Nuclear Planning Group.

The fundamental purpose of NATO’s nuclear capability is to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression.

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

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