NATO's Mark Rutte Gives Remarks After Meeting With Trump

[2:07] thrilled to be here with all of you today it's really an honor to welcome each of you to the [2:12] reagan institute which is the washington dc home of our foundation our reagan presidential [2:18] foundation and institute so here we are just across from lafayette square from the white house [2:24] and while we cherish this location it's not the proximity to the place where president mrs reagan [2:32] lived for eight years that makes this this institution so special what is most compelling [2:38] is the lasting power of president reagan's vision and impact that is what has drawn so many leaders [2:46] and dignitaries to join us here over the years so as we start this morning i'd like to say thank [2:52] you to all of our guests for being us being here with us and special thanks to ambassador matthew [2:57] whitaker the u.s ambassador to nato and to the ambassadors to the united states from get this [3:04] 17 nato member states i think that's uh that's an amazing turnout and we're very grateful for it [3:10] and i also want to thank everyone here as well for their leadership and for their shared belief [3:16] in president reagan's vision for a freer more prosperous and peaceful world a peace made possible [3:23] through the strength of the united states and of our nato alliance for president reagan nato represented [3:31] quote a living commitment of the nations of the west to the defense of democracy and individual [3:37] liberty at times he disagreed sometimes energetically with other nato leaders as they debated debated [3:44] strategy on how to confront the soviet union but nato was an alliance he believed in deeply saying it [3:52] was at quote the core of america's foreign policy and of america's own security today [4:00] we gather in troubled times from eastern europe to the middle east and beyond the lives of millions [4:06] upon millions of people are at risk and obviously there are tough questions about the future of the [4:13] alliance that has so long protected our peace freedom and prosperity and among those questions [4:20] uh those include what is required of america and other countries in confronting the threats facing [4:25] the alliance what is the proper balance of security and burden sharing between the united states [4:31] and our allies and how can we as president reagan put it in an address to the citizens of western [4:37] europe quote be strong enough be determined enough so that no adversary would think even for a moment [4:44] that war might pay there are no simple answers but the alliance is in good hands with mark ruta [4:52] navigating it as the north atlantic treaty organization's secretary general as the longest [4:57] serving prime minister of the netherlands who presided over four coalition governments [5:02] he developed a record and a reputation for pragmatism a strong supporter of global and transatlantic [5:09] cooperation secretary general ruta also knows how to forge consensus without compromising on [5:16] principle so especially in this consequential moment mr secretary general we look forward to your remarks [5:23] which will be followed by a conversation with the reagan institute's own policy director rachel hoff [5:29] so ladies and gentlemen please join me in giving a warm welcome to the 14th secretary of general of [5:33] nato mark ruta introduction thank you so much for that and uh good morning to all of you and uh good [5:51] morning ambassadors i see so many here so many friends matt whitaker is here ambassador of the united [5:56] states to to nato my good friend and so many other faces i know so well so we are among really among [6:02] friends this morning and it is a pleasure to be back in the united states and particularly to be back [6:09] here in washington in washington dc and yes i'm an admirer of the 40s president of united states [6:17] roald reagan and i'm particularly honored to be here today at the reagan institute if peace is to have a [6:26] chance if the hope for freedom is to be kept alive the united states must play a powerful and active [6:33] role in world affairs when president reagan offered those words at a gathering of the reserve officers [6:41] association on january 27 1988 the world was a very different place the burning wall still held people's [6:51] hopes and dreams captive more than 100 million men women and children lived in european countries [6:59] behind an iron curtain those differences notwithstanding what president reagan knew then and what i know [7:08] today is quite simple american leadership is absolutely essential if freedom is to be the rule and not the [7:17] exception as prime minister of the netherlands and now as secretary general of nato i have developed an [7:25] unflinching appreciation for the value of american leadership and yes i was raised with ronald reagan [7:32] he was my use time president and i still remember how important he was for so many people in europe [7:39] because in the end on the bush his successor the cold war ended it ended by winning it and it was won by [7:47] reagan and can i add maggie stature and the two of them working in conjunction free making the whole world [7:53] safer and ending the cold war and i think everybody in europe and everybody in the world should be [8:00] eternally grateful to that leadership but i've also had the opportunity to reflect on what happens [8:08] when america's allies take that leadership that u.s leadership for granted in the years following [8:15] president reagan's address to those reserve officers as we entered the so-called end of history [8:24] while those newly free sought to pass into nato and began to build their own capacities to contribute [8:30] to our shared security other european allies shifted away from decades of investing in conventional [8:38] military partnership with the united states during the cold war in favor of an unhealthy co-dependence [8:48] so convinced that peace was permanent and didn't demand the investment we now know is essential [8:55] western european forces shrank and defense budgets shriveled into irrelevance over reliance on the [9:04] notion that security was just the new norm and the united states would take care of any threats [9:11] further afield caused us europeans to imagine that hard power was something to be embarrassed by a relic [9:20] of a bellicose past that humankind had now outgrown but recent years have made abundantly clear [9:29] that history is alive and kicking that while europe may not think in spheres of influence countries [9:35] like russia certainly do and we have seen that putin is all too willing to use force to press the point [9:44] thankfully though the same american leadership that sets the conditions for staring down an evil empire [9:51] has helped keep the alliance an alliance that ensured freedom and security during the cold war [9:57] that alliance going retaining the foundations and tools we need even while many of its allies under [10:05] invested president trump's commitment to progress refers more than a generation of stagnation and atrophy [10:15] by reminding europe that values must be backed by hard power hard power provided not only by the united [10:25] states but through the collective effort of countries who are part of the most successful military alliance [10:31] ever built the president drove allies toward a historic decision at nato summit in the hake last [10:39] summer to invest five percent of gdp into defense and this will help to ensure that the nato of the [10:49] future is not an alliance in which allies are unhealthily dependent on the united states and in which the [10:57] united states knows that it has capable partners who are ready willing and able to defend our freedom and [11:05] security those investments are already laying the foundation for a stronger europe in a stronger [11:12] nato for a genuine partnership and the security that our freedom deserves these investments are crucial [11:22] and allies are moving quickly to secure the budgets grow their armed forces and feel the capabilities we [11:30] know we need but even with this progress it is clear we will need more more high-end exquisite capabilities to [11:41] defend against the modern missiles our adversaries are employing against kiev and tel aviv more scalable [11:49] adaptable drone interceptor technology and here ukraine's hard-earned battlefield lessons are saving lives [11:59] beyond its own borders at this moment allies on nato's eastern flank and our dear friends in the gulf [12:07] are defending against russian and iranian drones thanks in part to ukrainian technology that did not [12:15] exist even one year ago so business as usual will not meet this moment and allow me here to applaud [12:25] president trump for his bold leadership and vision united states and this is just an example from last week [12:33] just announced the framework agreement to triple production of certain types of patriot missiles and [12:39] this is absolutely crucial it is another example of american leadership and it is essential to [12:46] refilling our magazines and building the arsenal of freedom as i look towards the ankara summit i'm [12:56] confident nato collectively and allies individually will similarly act to break down barriers and unleash the [13:04] potential of defense industry on both sides of the atlantic so the money is flowing industry and government [13:13] will cooperate to ensure that money translates into the capabilities we need why then does everyone [13:22] in this room have a knot in their stomach about the future of the transatlantic alliance why when we turn [13:30] on our televisions or scroll on our phones do we see eager early drafts of nato's obituary let me be clear [13:41] this alliance is not whistling past the graveyard as you would say in the united states allies recognize and i [13:49] recognize we are in a period of profound change in the transatlantic alliance europe is assuming a greater [13:58] and fairer share of the task of providing for its conventional defense and from that there will be no [14:05] going back and nor should there be this is a move from unhealthy codependence to a transatlantic alliance [14:13] grounded in true partnership for increased investments and improved production to matter they must be [14:23] accompanied by a mindset shift that mindset shift is well underway but these shifts are often only [14:31] fully appreciated with the benefit of time and the space between can be precarious let's consider the [14:41] most recent events when it came time to provide the logistical and other support the united states [14:48] needed in iran some allies were a bit slow to say the least in fairness they were also a bit surprised [14:57] to maintain the element of surprise for the initial strikes president trump opted not to inform [15:04] allies ahead of time and i understand that but what i see when i look across europe today is allies [15:11] providing a massive amount of support basing logistics and other measures to ensure the powerful [15:19] u.s military succeeds in denying iran a nuclear weapon and degrading its capacity to export chaos [15:29] nearly without exception allies are doing everything the united states is asking they have heard and [15:36] are responding to president trump's requests the united kingdom the united kingdom is leading a coalition [15:43] of countries that are aligning the military the political and economic tools that will be required [15:50] to ensure free passage through the strait of hummus this is evidence of a mindset shift and right now [15:59] european allies play leading roles in nato's operations to secure our eastern flank the baltic sea [16:07] and the arctic acting rapidly to field personnel aircraft naval vessels and more to bolster our [16:14] security in the phase of emerging threats in these regions when russian mix-31s crossed the estonian [16:23] airspace last fall it was european aircraft italians in the lead backed up by finns and swedes that turned [16:31] them back and a flock of russian drones wandered recklessly into poland around the same time i'm [16:38] proud to say it was a dutch f-35 that fired the shot that took down the danger in my estimation secretary [16:47] rubio is spot on when he says that an alliance cannot be a one-way street it was not a one-way alliance [16:55] when u.s european and canadian troops fought and sacrificed shoulder to shoulder in afghanistan [17:02] and i'm heartened by the knowledge that every day as we speak the u.s european and canadian troops [17:11] continue to train and deploy in support of our shared security i'm confident that a stronger europe [17:19] and a stronger nato will not take u.s leadership for granted on the 40th anniversary of d-day in 1984 [17:29] standing atop the cliffs at fondue hawk where the u.s second ranger battalion had fought to carve out a [17:36] toehold on the continent president reagan offered an apt reflection it is good and fitting to renew [17:44] our commitment to each other to our freedom and to the alliance that protects it nato is changing [17:53] thanks to american leadership and a collective commitment to ensuring continued freedom and [17:59] security nato is growing stronger thanks to the mindset shift that is happening i see a true partnership [18:07] on the transatlantic horizon the future doesn't belong to the faint-hearted reagan famously said [18:15] as we brave this new past before us i'm confident that together the united states and its allies in [18:23] nato will deliver on our shared commitment to securing our freedom today tomorrow and well beyond thank you [18:35] please welcome to the stage policy director of the ronald reagan institute miss rachel hawk [18:47] thank you so much thank you so much mr secretary general for those remarks and for being with us [18:56] here at the reagan institute today it's a real honor to to host you during your visit to washington [19:01] your remarks have given us a lot to talk about and in particular you've already addressed as we say in [19:06] the u.s the elephant in the room about the knot in the stomach about the future of the transatlantic [19:13] relationship and the nato alliance understanding of course that with your visit to the white house [19:18] yesterday your meetings with president trump secretary rubio secretary hegseth of course in many [19:23] ways diplomatic conversations must remain private in a certain extent to in order to work um but what [19:30] what can you share with us from those conversations as we think about the future of the alliance well i [19:36] mean as they would say in diplomatic circles these conversations were frank and open um which is [19:43] good they may have been candid they even were candidates frank and open but that's good because [19:48] we are amongst friends here i mean the president myself we like each other we are good friends for [19:52] many years now and and i'd rather have the conversation on the table instead of tiptoeing around it [20:01] and um i sensed his disappointment about the fact that he felt that too many allies were not with him and [20:10] i explained to him yesterday i said hey mr president clearly the overwhelming majority of europeans have [20:17] done what the u.s asked of him and what was previously agreed in these circumstances and yes sometimes it [20:25] takes a bit of time but hey guess what we have coalitions in europe we have sometimes the political [20:29] home front to take care of sometimes it takes a couple of days but then we pull together and almost [20:35] the whole of europe did put for the u.s to protect power on the world stage through its partners in [20:42] europe and and the u.s nato is there of course to protect europeans but also to protect the united [20:48] states um as as jonas the norwegian prime minister said these these huge nuclear submarines in russia are [20:55] not there to attack norway they are there to attack the united states and it's thanks to the alliance that [21:00] we are able to make sure that they are not able to get in a position to do that so [21:05] uh and this is just an example where both the u.s mainland and europe stay stronger and safe because [21:12] of the alliance so it was a good conversation it was open and candid um and i i clearly felt his [21:17] his disappointment which again to a certain extent i understand the president certainly made his [21:23] disappointment clear he's he's um invoked renewed calls for for the u.s to potentially withdraw from nato [21:30] important to remember though that the challenge of america's participation in nato itself is not [21:35] necessarily something new um i'm always reminded of your earliest predecessor the very first secretary [21:42] general of nato who said that the challenge of of the alliance maybe the purpose of nato is is keeping [21:48] the russians out and the americans in what case did you make to the president about keeping the americans [21:54] in and what case would you make to the american people about why nato matters what what's the value [22:01] proposition to the americans well let's let's start with sometimes the wrong value proposition the the [22:06] the wrong view on this i feel i mean i'm an audience of one but let's let's have that debate [22:11] is that nato was founded because the united states didn't want to repeat a mistake after the second [22:16] world war of isolationism which was the case after the first world war at a famous speech by [22:22] churchill late december in the u.s congress where he said again for the second time in the 20th century [22:29] the long arm of history reaches out to the new world to come to the defense of the old and let's [22:35] not repeat that mistake that was one reason to create nato but the main reason to create nato [22:40] is there because there is a case to be built for the europeans for the transatlantic community as a [22:48] whole including the united states and canada to stay safe and for the united states to stay to say to [22:54] stay safe you need a secure europe yes but you also need to secure arctic you need a secure atlantic [23:02] because otherwise the russians and others might pose a threat and we know by now hey let's not [23:08] be naive about this that you cannot separate what happens in the inner pacific from what happens in the [23:13] atlantic it is china and north korea and the russians working together with iran when it comes for [23:19] example to the war effort uh unprovoked war of aggression of russia against ukraine they've [23:25] worked together so um this this is worldwide and we have to work together i'm not pleading for nato to [23:32] expand to the inter pacific but the fact that we have that close cooperation now with japan with [23:37] korea south korea with obviously australia and new zealand new zealand uh i think it's evidence of that so [23:43] for all these reasons if i my family lives in the united states and uh they are partly americans [23:50] anyway by birth and others have have moved here uh after the second world war um they deeply sense [23:56] that that that that for the us to say safe stay safe we have to stick together uh and we need this [24:03] transatlantic partnership one of the things that we do at the reagan institute is is public opinion [24:07] polling among the american people and our our latest data before um uh a couple months ago before [24:14] sort of the current moment with with iran especially um but a majority of americans have a favorable view [24:21] of nato 70 percent in our latest poll which is actually about 10 points above its usual number uh in [24:27] the u.s and a majority of americans also oppose uh withdrawing the u.s from nato and so some of those [24:32] messages i think are are resonating with with the american people let's turn to to iran and talk about [24:38] the state of play there you said in your remarks that it's it's good that that um the iranian nuclear [24:43] capability has been degraded their ability to export chaos has been degraded um the president of course [24:49] has been very critical of nato allies in particular uh for for um failing to support efforts in iran [24:56] sufficiently we're now two days into what hopes to be a two-week ceasefire the strait of hormuz remains [25:04] activity remains very limited uh even with the ceasefire but this coalition of european nations [25:10] that's uh that's now signed on to lead freedom of operation navigations in the strait of hormuz [25:16] share with us with us if you can some specifics uh as you understand them what countries you've said some [25:22] countries are stepping up others not so much which countries are stepping up what are they going to [25:26] deliver in the strait of hormuz and what can we do about the countries that are not yet at the table [25:31] yeah so so i think two elements to do to my reaction to my answer one is um it has always been a [25:38] long-standing position of nato that iran should not get its hands on a nuclear capability but also not [25:45] on a ballistic missile capability and the fact that on the u.s leadership those capabilities have been [25:52] severely degraded is good news existential news for israel existential news for the middle east but [25:59] also for europe and for the whole world and i know there are those who pleaded to continue uh the [26:05] negotiating track but hey listen we know what happened with north korea there can be a moment [26:10] where you've negotiated so long that guess what north korea got its hands on the nuclear capability [26:16] then it is too late um so um nato always being clear that iran should not be able to get its hands [26:24] on those capabilities so then when the us started the campaign late february on that last saturday [26:30] in february um there are long-standing arrangements and agreements with european allies on overflight on [26:37] basing on there are examples of european countries which has to shut down their commercial airports because [26:43] they had to host tanker plates from the u.s fine i mean this is the deals they made before this is [26:48] exactly what we need this is the u.s also being able to make use as i said for europe to be a power [26:55] protection platform for the united states and this is part of the deal not all european nations but most [27:01] did sometimes with a little bit of delay and and there i think part of the explanation is the fact that [27:07] the president wanted to maintain the element of surprise which i totally understand but it also meant [27:12] that there was not a lot of prior consultation so then they had to scramble to to understand what [27:17] was happening and then to to step up when it comes to the strade for moose it was keir starmer the uk prime [27:23] minister who took the leadership role here and he said we have to bring together a coalition of countries [27:30] which is able collectively to make sure that the principle of free shipping of free travel on on our [27:39] seas unclosed uh is is upheld um and obviously that that means with the united states together [27:48] discussing the what the where and the when of the mission but this is about practical support it is [27:53] about when to take my country in netherlands announcing yesterday it will probably be about [27:57] um um mine hunters it will be a bit triggered it will be about the radar technology and so each country [28:05] is now looking for what they can do to contribute to this to to make sure that the strato for moose [28:11] stays open of course it is early days this only as you said right you said two days into the ceasefire [28:16] so we have to see what happens with the shipping lanes as we now go forward day by day and i know [28:22] the president's very keen on making sure that the sea lanes are open as soon as possible but this is [28:27] practical support one with the campaign itself and now in the next stage to make sure that this [28:34] principle of free shipping is maintained and this is why we have allies coalitions this is not only [28:39] nato nations this is including japan korea australia being part of this countries like bahrain and the [28:45] uae and in in the in the gulf part of this but of course the overwhelming amount of countries is from [28:51] nato there are reports that the president's considering um pulling us troops out of specific [28:58] nato countries as punishment for those that have not stepped up to support us efforts in iran [29:03] traditionally u.s force presence in europe is thought of as a deterrence asset what is your [29:09] assessment of what the impact would be if u.s troops are repositioned well again as i said he he he he [29:15] was disappointed yesterday but he also had a very frank and open discussion amongst friends [29:20] but generally i mean um i totally understand that over time the u.s wants more and more to pivot [29:28] towards the inner pacific this is one of the reasons why in europe we have to step up [29:31] and that period of co-dependence and become more interdependent with the united states within the [29:37] alliance a stronger europe and a stronger nato as i said what is important of course over time when [29:42] you achieve that point is to make sure that whilst the europeans are stepping up and the u.s is over [29:47] time making sure that they can also take care of the threats in the inner pacific and and of course [29:52] here in in the own hemisphere uh that uh it's done in a way where when it comes to the essential [29:59] capabilities and essential um support uh that we stay strong as an alliance but everybody agrees with [30:05] that there's no no no debate on that um you've just published your new annual report uh and it [30:15] contains unlike many annual reports some genuinely historic news that now all and or and i don't [30:21] not a criticism nato annual reports every organization net annual report often are are uh not real [30:27] page turners but this one has photocross recent leader exactly um real news that uh that every [30:32] member of the alliance is now meeting the two percent uh defense spending target european allies in [30:38] canada increased defense spending by 20 percent in a single year but as you said in your remarks [30:42] what matters most is translating that capital into capabilities what's the path forward what are you [30:48] watching out for in terms of whether that spending surge actually produces the stronger alliance we [30:54] need and these are striking numbers so you have to imagine that countries like belgium like spain [31:00] italy and canada big economies were not in two percent they all reached the two percent in one go [31:06] and and i would argue without president trump i'm not sure they would have done that [31:10] in only nine to 12 months this is billions and billions extra for italy it is an increase of defense [31:15] spending of 10 billion in one year and then the whole of the alliance having committed to the [31:20] five percent at the summit in the hague so we need the credible path together so not just [31:25] simmering around the two percent and then in 2034 all of a sudden we go from two to five now [31:30] it has to be a credible path this is one of the things we will look for in ankara [31:33] ankara will focus primarily on industry industrial production but of course we will also celebrate these [31:39] good numbers but also make sure that as an alliance collectively we we we reach that credible [31:46] that credible path the good thing is and this was under my predecessor jen stoltenberg that [31:51] when you had the welsh defense pledge of two percent this was a bit taken from the air the two [31:56] percent now this five percent including the 3.5 core defense spending the 1.5 defense related spending [32:03] is deeply rooted in the plans uh which are there basically saying when article five will be triggered [32:10] hopefully never but if it would ever be triggered and and there is an attack on nato territory [32:15] who will do what when and where and what is needed so every country my country in the netherlands germany [32:20] everybody knows this is the list of requirements from nato and that list of requirements when you [32:25] add it all up together in the core defense spending the 3.5 overall spending five percent that's about the [32:32] number you need a little bit more in some case a little bit less but it is hovering around the 3.5 for [32:37] example that comes to the core defense and five for the overall defense so everybody every country knows what [32:42] they need to do so it's not just spending more the problem is the defense industrial production and [32:48] that's a problem here in the united states it is a problem in in in europe uh look ship building in [32:53] the united states but also in europe an issue the chinese have now more ships sailing than the united [32:58] states are saying and we know that the chinese are heavily investing in their defense and of course we [33:03] look for russia that comes to our adversaries but let's not be let's also be watchful china's do so for all [33:09] these reasons there is this big issue of the defense industrial production i predict that over [33:13] time you will see parts of our industry maybe in the us but maybe sooner even in europe will move [33:20] into more of a wartime mindset not to prepare for war but to make sure that you are able to refill the [33:27] stockpiles also making sure use of the traditional industrial base not only of the defense industrial [33:33] base because we we are really in a tight race here and we have to get this right very soon when it comes to [33:39] that industrial cooperation across the transatlantic alliance moving as you said in your remarks from [33:44] unhealthy codependency to partnership um what does that look like what in particular speaking to to an [33:51] american audience uh primarily we have lots of defense industry uh ceos and executives in the room as well [33:58] what do you need to see from the american industrial base um in order to build that that uh that healthy [34:05] partnership that you're looking for either from from industry partners or from from the us government [34:12] side well first of all produce more put in the extra shifts put in the extra production lines where [34:18] necessary build the new factories please don't talk about 10-year contracts uh because you know in the [34:23] u.s system you have a one-year cycle in the european system you have an election cycle or three or four [34:28] years but the money is there i mean you just mentioned the 20 increase where look what what europeans are [34:34] spending in the us it was 10 billion in 2020 it was already 43 billion in 2024 buying from europe into [34:41] the u.s industrial base and that will massively increase let alone what the u.s will need for itself [34:48] to buy uh given the huge increase of the defense budget here in the united states under trans leadership [34:54] so so do this and and then secondly uh work together and i know there are many examples of u.s companies [35:02] investing in europe setting up factories for example factories in the southern part of bavaria to produce [35:09] interceptors and there are many of these examples but also european companies like talis [35:14] like leonardo so many cases i mean many companies from turkia for example investing in the u.s working [35:21] together so there is this transatlantic defense industrial base and there is no way you can separate [35:26] that there's absolutely no way because the only one who will benefit from that is russia in the [35:31] short term and china in the longer term and we cannot have it i'm going to come to questions [35:36] from our audience here in the next couple of minutes but to to round out my questions to start [35:41] let's turn to to ukraine um two questions on ukraine number one general petraeus retired u.s general [35:48] petraeus has said in an interview earlier this week that he thinks russia no longer has the upper hand [35:53] uh that over the last several months the ukrainians have made greater incremental gains than the [35:57] russians do you agree with that assessment is is ukraine winning the war and number two um you've [36:04] been engaged with with president zelensky president trump uh on the the peace process in ukraine again [36:11] without betraying confidences what what gives you hope and where are you worried about about the [36:15] future of the war in ukraine well on the first question i'm afraid my view will be a bit more nuanced [36:20] uh it's true that russia is losing massive amounts of people each month up to a month with 30 000 to [36:28] 35 000 people dead or seriously wounded can you imagine i mean the soviets in the 1980s lost under [36:37] 20 000 in 10 years in afghanistan and now they are losing this in three weeks uh so this is massive and [36:44] this cannot and this has to reach somehow moscow and and st petersburg you cannot try to contain this [36:51] to the parts of russia which will not be reached by the general media so that will have an impact on [36:58] russia no doubt but on the other hand still overall uh the front line is moving in the wrong direction [37:04] extremely slowly again again against extreme costs and the ukrainians are strongly defending themselves and [37:11] they are using the latest technology i mentioned in my introduction the the drone technology and and [37:17] and and and this gives them immense uh power of course and also when it comes to drone to drones [37:22] and drones and anti-drones they really have to apprehend on that part but more generally you [37:26] still see very slowly that the the movement is in the wrong direction if you are pro-ukraine like i am [37:32] an anti-russian um but it comes to the second question i still think we need a settlement for this [37:38] a peace deal uh and this is what president trump is driving uh he broke the death of his putin last [37:44] year by getting engaged with him he steve whitkov and jihad kushner are working around the clock to [37:49] give us mark rubio marco rubio to get this done and we all understand that the key to unlock this [37:56] is for ukraine to know that after a peace deal um nato membership not being on the table for now [38:02] that there will be security guarantees in place so strong that um they know that the russians will [38:09] not try to attack again and early january in in paris under president macron's leadership we had a [38:17] meeting with all the countries part of the coalition of the willing uh including the key uh interlocutor [38:23] with the united states we agreed on the three-layer approach layer one is the ukrainian armed forces they [38:29] have to be the strongest possible with great huge investments from europe and the u.s to make sure [38:33] they can they can defend themselves second layer being the coalition of the willing so that's [38:38] primarily europe but also some non-european nations and the third layer being the united states providing [38:43] the backstop to that coalition and that is a very strong package of security guarantees and this is [38:49] key to unlock the debate on what is somehow the landing ground for for a piece but of course you need [38:55] two to play tango also putin has to has to play uh has to play ball and of course this is also testing [39:02] him how serious he is in getting this done there's an argument that the u.s military footprint in in [39:10] europe is misaligned to the to the current threat thinking thinking beyond ukraine as well um we have [39:16] with us today washington post columnist mark teeson who has argued in columns for years that that the threat [39:22] from moscow is moving east and and u.s force presence should move with it um what's your view is nato's [39:28] eastern flank um vulnerable and uh should we have more allied forces positioned in places like romania [39:37] well of course what what again on my predecessor stottenberg happened is that in all the country of [39:42] eastern flank we have now what we in nato parlor now call the forward land forces and these are multi [39:49] country uh forces uh defending helping to defend for example latvia where it is canada taking the [39:57] lead estonia where the uk is taking the poland where the us is taking the lead so and and lithuania [40:02] where my country the netherlands is active on the leadership of germany so this is one way to make [40:07] sure that all these countries on the eastern flank uh have in addition to their own national armed forces [40:13] and of course the overall nato article 5 protection that they have what they need to to defend themselves [40:21] and of course you always have to be make use of your resources which are always limited in the best [40:27] possible way so this is a debate we constantly are having where should you deploy what is the best way [40:33] to do that um i leave that primarily to the to the military uh and we have by the way with [40:38] uh alexis krinkovich uh call sign cringe uh the new supreme allied commander europe and also commander [40:46] of the u.s forces in europe we have an amazing uh senior commander a four-star general uh who is [40:52] constantly with his team assessing what is the best way to make use of all the resources available from [40:58] the u.s from europe to protect the continent last question for me before we we go to the audience [41:05] um let's end by talking about our namesake you invoked president reagan in your remarks you've done so [41:11] in europe you've done so in your meetings with president trump um you said you were raised with [41:15] ronald reagan in a sense what is president reagan's legacy mean to you and in particular with all of [41:22] the challenges facing nato what principle or what idea from president reagan should we should we remember [41:28] what's most important the total clarity of focus from the day he entered into office till he left the [41:35] presence in 1988 and handed over to bush to herbert walker bush who then took that legacy and in the [41:42] end saw the burning ball came coming down that leadership first of all total clarity of focus [41:48] which is we have to win the gold war ended by winning it there's no other way and he knew that [41:53] in maggie thatcher he had the best possible ally in in europe in the united kingdom that special [41:59] relationship which is so important to the alliance and to the whole transatlantic community and it was [42:07] maggie thatcher at that time was rebuilding her country don't forget that in the 1970s the uk was [42:13] run by the the trade unions more or less and she was able fighting the coal miners union getting the [42:21] falklands back from the argentina kunta in 1982 she was a strong leader and these two leaders uh deeply [42:32] understanding the value of democracy of freedom uh that power uh i think has brought us so far so [42:40] but also there is the the the the legacy of the diplomacy when when bush when the the burning wall came [42:47] down uh it was bush who understood that he could not celebrate that and he got criticized for that [42:53] here in the united states why don't you celebrate the fact that you thanks to your leadership and [42:57] president the president preceding your president of leadership you brought down the berlin wall he [43:02] understood that for korbatchev to survive at that important moment he could not celebrate that too [43:08] overtly and and and it is also that type uh of leadership and and and i really admire also uh bush [43:15] uh but first of all uh uh roland reagan and of course there are so many funny stories about that [43:20] relationship but i'll make use of that in the lunch but but how maggie said she would hand back [43:25] herself into the oval office and and and the whole of the american administration tender president [43:31] you've got to say no to the prime minister yes i will you've got to say no hello ronnie let's first [43:37] have a meeting one-on-one and then she went to the oval office set for an hour they came out and of [43:42] course he had agreed with everything the prime minister wanted and his staff said but you would [43:45] say no to the prime minister you cannot say no to maggie and this is also the sweet part of that [43:51] relationship and we are all better off for the fact that these two remarkable leaders were taking [43:57] charge of the world in the 1980s we are let's turn to our audience we have some microphones here for [44:03] those that have questions let's start in the back here and then we'll come up here uh alina shirazi from [44:12] daily mail so based on your conversation with the president yesterday do you think that [44:17] he is still going to stay in nato since you know him so well and second of all do you still consider [44:23] him daddy after yesterday well on the daddy thing this this is a language problem what happens is the [44:29] following i have to explain to you because it follows me a little bit um i can assure you no we we we had [44:36] a sort of uh pre-summit meeting the president and i in june in the hague and and he had been very angry [44:42] that day with iran and with israel this was in june last year and i and in that she would say hey the [44:49] translation of your father is daddy and i would say i said hey yeah sometimes daddy has to be angry [44:54] so i was not calling him my daddy but uh saying but of course daddy has has also a special connotation [45:00] uh and i now have to live as this the rest of my life and i own it and president owns it because he [45:07] brought out t-shirts he made a movie daddy is home and he returned to the united states this was so [45:13] funny and this is why i like him so much but uh hey yeah you make mistakes and this is when you are [45:20] not a native speaker sorry for sorry for that no i i again as i said the the conversation was really [45:25] open it was really between friends but it's really also clearly his disappointment just up front here [45:33] the former ambassador of italy to the alliance thank you for your remarks and you mentioned the uk [45:44] initiative to bring together european forces and other forces to ensure the safety of the straits [45:52] and as secretary general nato considering that nato has important presences in in the middle east [45:59] from jordani to kuwait to even iraq do you think do you see that could be a role that nato can [46:06] i can can play as you know coordinating force also to show the added value to president trump that [46:13] is asking for that and considering also that the next summit would be in ankara which is clearly a [46:19] strategic play in that region how do you see that playing out thank you i i would argue let's do it [46:24] step by step so um but with speed and the and the step now being taken is for this coalition of [46:29] uh now 34 countries who uh gathered together at the uh military level last tuesday to start doing the [46:38] detailed planning for what is where moose mission could be um i think that's step one if if if nato [46:44] can help obviously nato is then is there there's no uh no reason not to uh to be uh to be helpful [46:50] obviously we will uh if that's helpful but i think we have to do it step by step because also in nato that [46:55] requires then an agreement between all the allies to do that and i think here the exact structure [47:02] is less important than the speed here i would say the speed over perfection um and but again if if [47:09] nato can play a role would be great in the back here mr secretary general thank you for your remarks [47:19] and your leadership really appreciate it um at our our think tank foundation for defense of democracies [47:24] our center military and political power we've been researching how china russia iran and north korea [47:28] are cooperating uh based on on on your role i'm wondering if you could speak in more depth about [47:33] how russia and iran are cooperating and how that's increasing the capabilities of both russia with [47:39] respect to eastern europe and ukraine and also iran in the middle east thank you sir they're absolutely [47:44] cooperating i mean uh north korea china iran belarus and russia working together when it comes to this [47:51] war of aggression against against ukraine and particularly when it comes to iran and russia this drone technology [47:56] uh it is other military technology and the russians are returning for uh with money and the money is [48:03] being spent for iran to create the utter chaos they are the main exporter of chaos in the middle east [48:10] through their proxies but also directly trying to to build this uh ballistic missile capability and [48:18] the nuclear capability we have seen these missiles going into into uh uk uh u.s property about [48:26] four thousand kilometers so two thousand five hundred miles away from iran so that is quite a distance [48:32] which shows you that iran is close to really having operationalized technology and again that's the [48:38] reason why i think it is so important that the u.s has degraded those two capabilities both nuclear and [48:45] ballistic missiles but it is it is it is technology into russia money from russia to iran ambassador mark [48:51] korova thank you former ukraine's ambassador thank you mark for your excellent leadership uh and in nato [49:01] and before but uh thank you brett for excellent question given that our enemies really cooperate [49:06] together and they work together hand in hand not just on ukraine but elsewhere do you think ukraine's [49:13] capabilities and uh there is no doubt that ukraine's uh drone capabilities and others is the answer to so [49:19] many problems not just in ukraine is and the need to build this transatlantic bridge ukraine europe [49:26] uh the us actually calls for renewed discussions on ukraine's membership in nato and i know it's not [49:32] on the table right now but the preparation and everything that we actually can be strong in ukraine [49:38] can contribute to nato as it can yes okay so at the nato summit in washington and when [49:45] nato was celebrating the 75 years there was an agreement on the irreversible path of ukraine into [49:52] nato but also the fact of the matter is that a couple of countries are holding back including germany [49:58] and slovakia hungary the united states so i don't think it is on the table right now and that is being [50:04] a practical guy but also president selensky being a practical man um we had to shift from nato to [50:10] what then to make sure that the russians will not attack after a long-term ceasefire or even better [50:16] a peace deal and and that is this concept of the security guarantees which are now being discussed [50:22] um because i don't think it will be able i will be able or we will be able collectively to to solve [50:28] that nato membership in the short term i don't think it will happen politically so i think that that's [50:32] that's the fair assessment and when it comes to ukraine's capabilities we have a joint center in poland [50:38] jatech where we take all the lessons from you guys are learning through this terrible war [50:43] for and we are so uh looking up with this deep angle to what you are doing uh we're really really [50:49] impressed but we are trying to capture all those lessons also to to to figure them into our nato [50:56] defense plans going forward and particularly when it comes to drones and anti-drone technology of course [51:01] you are the masters zelensky wisely traveled to middle east to help middle eastern gulf countries [51:10] now with dealing with the drone threat from from iran so this is evidence of of ukraine really stepping [51:18] up and also making use of its capacities now and capabilities also when it comes to to to the to [51:25] region in the middle east let's go back to this side of the room in the back row hi paul mclery with [51:33] politico thanks for doing this all right good morning good morning um the trump administration [51:37] has spent the past year kind of telling nato to stay out of the middle east stay out of the [51:40] inner pacific focus on europe focus on russia now it's demanding as you said uh that nato help in [51:47] and straight forward moves in the middle east is that creating some whiplash there among allies about [51:52] what exactly the administration is asking and how you can move quickly enough to to to meet their needs [51:58] well i think there's the thinking also in the u.s side is constantly evolving when it comes for [52:03] example to the inner pacific it is true that for some time um there was a idea that you should focus [52:10] more on your own area and of course it is always focused above synergy first deal with your own issues [52:17] and nato not being on two percent and now having to move to the five percent and before all these [52:21] decisions were taken i totally accepted the u.s view that focus above synergy first focus on your [52:27] own problems but now that we have solved some of those issues in the nato summit and now that the [52:31] whole of alliance has reached this two percent threshold so the foundation is now late uh what [52:37] i also hear back in u.s circles in european circles is that most likely if china would move against taiwan [52:44] why not first call your junior partner in all of this which is one vladimir vladimir which putin [52:49] in residing in moscow and asking to keep us busy here so most likely it will not be limited uh [52:55] something in the inner pacific to the inner pacific it will be a multi-theater issue and and that means [53:01] that um my chief of staff was in japan just last week uh carrying messages and um i'm constantly in [53:10] contact with the four partners in the inner pacific by the way the distance between japan and australia [53:15] is longer than between japan and brussels but still we see it as one theater in the pacific which tells [53:22] you something about the size of the globe but hey this is important because we cannot look at these [53:28] two theaters separately they are all interconnected time for a couple more questions let's go in the [53:35] back middle there thank you uh morgan phillips hi good morning good morning there seems to be some [53:43] differing views between the u.s and europe on what nato's obligations are as it relates to the [53:49] iran conflict um after your meeting with president trump do you think the u.s and europe are on the [53:54] same page about what nato's obligations are yeah and it's not so much nato it is it is the allies [54:00] so first of all it might be that nato plays a role like the italian ambassador was just referring to [54:05] but i think it is it is what allies can expect from each other and i think rightly the u.s was expecting [54:10] that if you have deals with european countries or making use of your own bases and other infrastructure [54:16] in those countries in case you need it uh that then of course countries should live up to those [54:20] commitments and the good news is hey guess what uh the most of them did not all of them but most of [54:26] them uh and and sometimes it took a little bit of time but most of them did now when it comes to [54:31] the strait of hormuz um what we are seeing under the leadership of of keir starmer and these 34 [54:38] countries working closely with the us is is of course a shared commitment and agreement that we cannot accept [54:45] the strait to be closed it has to be opening up and when it is opened up we have to keep it open [54:50] because this is about free shipping it's about the law of the sea it is about free trade etc so um [54:58] big maritime nations like the uk but also my own country which is not that big but as a maritime [55:04] nation relevant in netherlands but also i spoke to the norwegian prime minister this morning on the [55:08] phone who is the fifth biggest maritime nation on earth so that these nations come together work [55:15] together in this coalition to to support this endeavor i think is only logical and a final [55:22] question we'll go right there in the back here rinaldi cps news thank you for being here hi can you [55:28] shed any light on conversations you might have had with president trump about greenland and would [55:33] nato be willing to give up greenland to president trump well here the president i uh discussed uh very [55:42] very thoroughly the whole issue in davos and first of all i share his view that there is a big risk [55:50] that the russians and the chinese will become even more involved in the arctic uh of course the arctic [55:56] is at the moment eight countries seven are part of nato one russia not and then there is china which [56:02] is a sort of honorary ninth arctic country because they are more and more involved there through russia [56:08] so i think the president is right that we have to defend ourselves so um um what we agreed in in davos [56:15] is one that when it comes to the arctic nato has to play a role here and under general klinkovic leadership [56:22] we started arctic century which is bringing together five of the nato countries in the arctic [56:29] plus of course all the other allies and making sure that the arctic stays safe working closely with [56:34] canada and the us through norad through norscom and this whole endeavor started late january and [56:40] and will help us to defend the arctic including greenland uh from this russian and chinese influence [56:46] so that is one part the other part of course is that denmark greenland and the us continue their [56:53] bilateral trilateral talks focusing on one what happens if greenland would in the future maybe yes no [57:00] change this constitutional position within the kingdom of denmark would agreements then still be [57:04] valid i think a fair question to ask and to answer and to get an answer to i think that's solvable and [57:10] secondly how to prevent when it comes to the green economy russia and china getting access so those [57:16] conversations are ongoing mr secretary general as we wind down our conversation today i want to close by [57:22] finishing a quote that dave began in his introductory remarks it's from president reagan [57:28] at the uh from the 1988 address that he gave to the citizens of western europe he began as dave said [57:34] the atlantic alliance is the core of america's foreign policy and america's own security but he went [57:39] on preservation of peace of a peaceful free and democratic europe is essential to the preservation [57:45] of a free peaceful and democratic united states if our fellow democracies are not secure we cannot be [57:51] secure that is not simply a matter of treaty language as important as treaty language is it is an [57:58] enduring reality as enduring president reagan said as the reality that a threat to the security of [58:05] the state of maine or new york or california is a threat to the security of all 50 american states and [58:11] then he said this simply put an attack on munich is the same as an attack on chicago that's how [58:18] president reagan saw the nato alliance mr secretary general thank you for your work to preserve that [58:22] alliance and thank you for being with us here today [58:33] you