NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

11/30/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/30/2022 06:06

Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Bucharest, Romania

Good afternoon.
We have just concluded important meetings of NATO Foreign Ministers.

Last night, with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, we addressed Russia's illegal war in Ukraine.
The country's most urgent needs, and our longer-term support.

Ukraine has made significant gains.
But we must not underestimate Russia.

Russian missiles and drones continue to strike Ukrainian cities, civilians, and critical infrastructure.
This is causing enormous human suffering, as winter sets in.

NATO Foreign Ministers made clear that our continued military support for Ukraine is essential.
In particular, additional air defences.
And I welcome the new commitments made by Allies.

Allies also announced additional contributions to NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package.
Providing Ukraine with non-lethal aid, including fuel and generators.

This morning, Allies addressed the long-term challenges posed by China
to our interests, values and security.
And how we must continue to strengthen our resilience.

NATO is an Alliance of Europe and North America.
But the challenges we face are global.
And we must address them together in NATO.

We do not see China as an adversary.
We will continue to engage with China when it is in our interests.
Not least to convey our united position on Russia's illegal war in Ukraine.

So we remain clear-eyed.
Today, ministers considered China's ambitious military developments, its technological advances, and its growing cyber and hybrid activities.

The war in Ukraine has demonstrated our dangerous dependency on Russian gas.
This should also lead us to assess our dependencies on other authoritarian regimes, not least China.
For our supply chains, technology or infrastructure.

We will continue, of course, to trade and engage economically with China.
But we have to be aware of our dependencies.
Reduce our vulnerabilities.
And manage the risks.

Foreign ministers stressed the importance of meeting NATO's resilience guidelines, and maintaining our technological edge.
We must also continue to strengthen our cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as with the European Union.

Ministers also discussed terrorism, the most direct asymmetric threat to our security.
We saw that most recently with the horrific attack in Istanbul.
Ministers agreed that we must continue our efforts to counter this threat.

For our final session, the Foreign Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova joined us.
Three valued NATO partners, which face Russian pressure.

We discussed our shared security concerns, and ways to strengthen our cooperation. And Allies agreed to step up our tailored support, including on capacity-building, reforms, and training to improve their security and defence institutions.

In all our discussions, yesterday and today, we were joined by Finland and Sweden.
The ratification process for their NATO membership is now nearly complete.

Their accession will make them safer, our Alliance stronger,
And the Euro-Atlantic area more secure.
It is time to welcome them as full-fledged members of the Alliance.

I want to close by thanking Romania for the excellent hosting of this meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers.
This shows once again Romania's strong commitment to our Alliance.

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