NATO
March 15, 2022

Secretary General previews extraordinary meeting of NATO Defence Ministers

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg previewed this week’s extraordinary meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in a press conference on Tuesday (15 March 2022). “NATO Defence Ministers will meet tomorrow at a defining moment for our security,” he said. “President Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine…shaken the international order.”

Secretary General Stoltenberg highlighted NATO’s long-standing partnership with Ukraine, and Allies’ strong support for Kyiv in the current crisis: “For many years, NATO Allies have trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops. Many of them are now fighting on the front lines. Allies have also provided significant quantities of critical equipment, including anti-tank and air defence weapons, drones, ammunition and fuel….”

Mr Stoltenberg also outlined NATO’s rapid response to protect all Allies, including with activated defence plans and raised readiness. “There are now hundreds of thousands of forces on 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. All of this sends an unmistakable message: an attack on one Ally will be met with a decisive response from the whole Alliance,” he said.

When ministers meet on Wednesday, they will discuss a number of concrete measures to reinforce Allies security for the longer-term. The Secretary General said this could include “substantially more forces in the eastern part of the Alliance”, as well as major increases to air and naval deployments, strengthened air and missile defence, reinforced cyber defences, and more and larger exercises. He underlined that this will require major increases in defence investment, and welcomed the efforts of Allies who have already announced increases.

The Ukrainian Defence Minister will participate in tomorrow’s meeting, as will Georgia, Finland, Sweden, and the European Union.

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NATO
March 15, 2022

Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the Extraordinary meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence

Tomorrow we will be joined by the Ukranian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov.
And our other partners Georgia, Finland, Sweden, and the European Union.

We have responded to the crisis quickly.
Activating our defence plans,
raising our readiness,
and deploying the NATO Response Force for the first time for our collective defence.

There are now hundreds of thousands of forces on 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.

The US is currently deploying Patriot batteries to Poland.
And Germany and the Netherlands are also deploying Patriots to Slovakia.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,
and its military integration with Belarus, create a new security reality on the European continent.

So we need to reset our military posture for this new reality.

Tomorrow, ministers will start an important discussion on concrete measures to reinforce our security for the longer term, in all domains.

On land, this could include substantially more forces in the eastern part of the Alliance, at higher readiness, and with more prepositioned equipment.

We will also consider major increases to our air and naval deployments.
Strengthening our integrated air and missile defence.
Reinforcing our cyber defences.
And holding more and larger exercises.