SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good afternoon, everyone. This is my final NATO ministerial as Secretary of State, so I will be handing over my keys to our apartment in Brussels today and hoping to get the security deposit back after four years. In all seriousness, I am grateful to all of my colleagues here at NATO - the permanent representatives, the foreign ministers, the secretary general, the entire team - for an extraordinary four years, extraordinary work that we've been able to do together to strengthen the security, the well-being of all the citizens we have the privilege to represent. And I especially want to thank Secretary General Rutte, who has hit the ground at a full sprint and is doing a remarkable job already leading this Alliance. I have tremendous confidence in the future of the Alliance under his leadership.
When I began as Secretary of State, NATO had a Strategic Concept that considered Russia a partner, didn't mention China, didn't fully appreciate or grapple with urgent threats like cyber and climate. Here, in 2021, I set out President Biden's vision to revitalize and modernize this Alliance. And in the four years since, the Alliance has undertaken the most significant reforms and the most significant strengthening that we've seen in decades. Here we are almost four years later - NATO is bigger, it's stronger, it's better resourced to meet the challenges ahead.
None of this was inevitable. It came about because President Biden's leadership, our sustained diplomatic engagement, and building a sense of shared unity and shared purpose. We have a new NATO Strategic Concept. It recognizes Russia as the most direct threat to the Alliance, while highlighting the new security environment that we're operating in with threats from the People's Republic of China, transnational challenges - from emerging and disruptive technologies, climate change, terrorism. In 2020, nine of our Allies were meeting the pledge that they made at the Wales Summit in 2014 to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense - just nine. Today it's 23, and the remainder of the allies are on track to meet that Wales commitment.
We've added two new Allies in Finland and Sweden, immensely strengthening our Alliance for the future. And the Alliance itself has strengthened our defense and deterrence capacity. We've doubled our presence on the eastern flank. We've updated our command structure. We have new defense plans that we're implementing. We've bolstered capabilities across all domains, including cyber space and outer space. These enduring commitments, these enduring investments will help provide security for our citizens for many, many years to come.
Now, there may be no better illustration of Allied unity and Allied determination than the unwavering support that we've shown for Ukraine since the Russian aggression. Putin time and again has sought to break our resolve as well as the resolve of the Ukrainian people. It hasn't happened; it won't happen. In recent weeks, Russia has engaged in dangerous escalations, including bringing more than 10,000 North Korean troops into the fight, lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in its doctrine, launching intermediate range ballistic missiles with potential nuclear capabilities, ratcheting up threats against Ukraine and its partners, continuing to attack relentlessly the energy grid, using winter as a weapon, trying to turn the lights out and freeze people out of their homes.
Yet today, over 1,000 days since the full-scale invasion, Ukraine continues to stand strong, and NATO stands strong with Ukraine. We've provided, through NATO, critical non-lethal support. We created the NATO-Ukraine Council, which met just again here in Brussels. We've launched a new command, the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine command, to coordinate future efforts and to help speed Ukraine's path to membership. The United States has been surging our own resources and security assistance to continue to help build up Ukraine's air defenses, its artillery, its armored vehicles. We are determined - and it's fully my intent and the President's intent - to spend every cent that we have available from the $61 billion that were authorized by Congress in the supplemental appropriation.
With the G7, we're finalizing moving out the door $50 billion secured by frozen Russian assets. At the same time, NATO Allies and partners of NATO are sharing the burden and shouldering even more of the responsibility. Germany, for example, just made a pledge of $680 million in new military aid. Bulgaria, Czechia, Sweden, others providing personnel to this new NATO command. All told, the United States has provided $102 billion in assistance to Ukraine, our allies and partners $158 billion. And as I said many times before, this may be the best example of burden sharing that I've seen in the 32 years that I've been doing this.
And of course when it comes to our own investment, most of it has been invested in our own defense industrial base to produce weapons that Ukraine needs, but those investments are strengthening our defense industrial base and they're providing good jobs in the United States. We welcomed the Ukrainian foreign minister here to NATO, along with the EU's new High Representative Kaja Kallas, and in doing that, we reaffirmed the commitment to Ukraine's defense and to its irreversible path to NATO and EU membership. We continue coordinating to ensure that Ukraine has the money, the munitions, and the mobilized forces to fight as necessary through next year - or to be able to negotiate, but from a position of strength.
Ukraine also shows that European security and Indo-Pacific security are intertwined. Over the past four years, we've had an unprecedented convergence among Allies on the challenges that China poses to transatlantic security, and that includes its critical support for Russia's defense industrial base, which enables Russia's ongoing aggression and intensifies what is the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War. But this growing convergence here in Europe on the challenges posed both by Russia and, in different ways, by China, and then growing collaboration between allies and partners in the transatlantic area and the Indo-Pacific, that is a hallmark of the last four years.
As these threats evolve, as they transcend regions, we've significantly increased engagement beyond NATO, from the Indo-Pacific to the Arctic to NATO's southern flank, reinforcing a 360-degree approach. King Abdullah was just here with us yesterday, and we were very glad to have him at the ministerial. We look forward to opening the NATO Liaison Office in Amman next year - it will be the first in the region - to further strengthen the relationship between NATO and the Middle East. But what I want to emphasize is this: All of these efforts are not taking NATO out of area; out of area has been coming to NATO. And that's why it's so imperative that we work together to strengthen our capabilities, to strengthen our capacity, to strengthen our focus on these different challenges, because they're having an effect within the transatlantic community.
This evolution is critical so that NATO can continue to adapt to the world as it is already and as we see it evolving. We're at a critical moment for Ukraine and for the defense of the transatlantic values on which this Alliance was founded. Over the last four years, as I said, historic strides towards strengthening the Alliance, which has made America and the world safer. I think this is a time for every Ally to lean in, not lean back.
Every dollar that the United States puts into our shared security - whether it's deepening cyber defenses, whether it's strengthening our defense industrial base - it's an investment that redounds to the benefit of people across the Alliance now and for years to come. A stronger NATO means more capabilities to deter aggression, more effective Allies to meet more complex challenges, and the peace and stability that allows our people to pursue fuller lives.
And maybe that's the final and most important point, and I want to emphasize this. In the United States, throughout Europe, around the world, people want peace. They don't want war. They want to avoid conflict. And what's so important to understand about this Alliance is where it came from and what its purpose is.
NATO came together after two world wars as part of a series of institutions that were built to try to ensure that we never had another global conflagration. And what's so unique about NATO is the compact that each of its members make that an attack on one is an attack on all. What's so powerful about that is it tells any would-be aggressor: If you go after one of us, you're going to have to deal with all of us. That is the most powerful deterrent to war breaking out in the first place. That is the most powerful deterrent against aggression. It's not a surprise that Russia has not attacked directly a NATO member.
So when we all talk about this powerful desire to avoid conflicts, to prevent wars, to have peace, the best way to do that is through ongoing investment in the world's most successful defensive Alliance, and that is NATO. Thank you.
MR MILLER: The first question goes to Michael Birnbaum with The Washington Post.
QUESTION: Thanks very much. Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post. Secretary Blinken, President Zelenskyy in the last few days has signaled some openness to abandoning Ukraine's effort to regain all of its territory by force in exchange for NATO membership. I wanted to ask what you thought about that strategy, if you thought that was a good idea, and particularly if you thought it was realistic given that President Trump is about to come into office.
And second, a question on South Korea and President Yoon. I - and maybe some of us in the press corps were with you in March at the Summit for Democracy in Seoul. Was it a mistake in retrospect, to host a democracy summit in South Korea. And are you concerned that Kim Jong-un is going to use this moment of instability in South Korea and transition in the White House to stage a provocation? Thanks a lot.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks, Michael. So with regard to Ukraine, the most important foundational proposition is this. Ukraine and Ukrainians will decide their future. Any decisions that are made about how Ukraine engages the Russian aggression, where it wants to go, what it wants to do, these are decisions for Ukraine and its democratically elected leadership to make. And so from day one, we've repeated and we adhere to the mantra of nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. Well, Ukraine has to make these decisions.
I think what we're working to do in the time that we have left is to give Ukraine, to give our own country, to give all the allies and partners that support Ukraine the strongest possible hand to use next year and beyond. If Ukraine determines that it needs to continue the fight, we want to make sure it has what it needs to continue that fight - the money, the munitions, the mobilized forces. If it chooses to engage in a negotiation - and that assumes of course that Putin and Russia have any intent of doing that - then, again, we want to make sure it's from a position of strength.
And from my perspective, I think what I'm trying to do, not just with Ukraine but across the board, is to give the incoming administration the strongest hand to play in all of these areas and to pass the baton in a way that they can hit the ground running, because the world doesn't stop just because we have a political transition underway in the United States. So that's what we're focused on, that's what I'm focused on in the remaining time.
When it comes to South Korea, let me just say this. We're obviously watching the developments very closely. This is one of our closest partners and allies around the world. We welcome President Yoon's statement withdrawing the martial law order, and there was a unanimous vote at the National Assembly to reject the decision, and he followed up on that. In our judgment, any political disagreements need to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law.
Korea has been an extraordinary story, an extraordinary success story, over the last three or four decades, and the story that it tells of building this strong democracy - and one, again, where we see the institutions functioning as they should - is one that we thought was important to amplify and to show. And that's - and of course, with Korea wanting to take on the Summit for Democracy, we were delighted at that, and we had a very successful summit. But again, I think Korea is one of the most powerful stories in the world about the emergence of democracy and democratic resilience, and we'll continue to look to Korea to set that example.
MR MILLER: For the next question, Ciaran Sunderland with DPA.
QUESTION: Thanks. Good afternoon, Secretary.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Afternoon.
QUESTION: Ciaran Sunderland for the German Press Agency. My question is about Syria. Does the United States believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has distracted him or weakened his support for Syrian President Assad in view of the renewed fighting?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. Look, I think what we've just seen in Syria with the offensive by HTS reflects the fact that Assad's key backers, key allies - whether it's Russia, whether it's Hizballah, whether it's Iran - have all in different ways been distracted notably by problems of their own making. And it looks like HTS took advantage of that fact. Right now, I think what's so critical is that we see de-escalation, we ensure that civilians are protected throughout Syria, and maybe most critically, that there's actually a political process that moves forward on the basis of the UN Security Council resolution to try to resolve and end the civil war in Syria. If anything, the fact that Assad has refused to engage in any meaningful way on a political process is also what opened the door to this attack and to the gains that HTS has made on the ground.
We have enduring interests, enduring security interests, in Syria, particularly the interest in making sure that ISIS doesn't resurrect and doesn't come back. There was a tremendous success by the Obama administration and then completed by the first Trump administration to end the so-called geographic caliphate that had been established, all of the ground and the almost physical state that had been established. It's profoundly in our interest to make sure that doesn't happen again.
And so our own engagement and presence remains important. Partners who are working to make sure that, again, we don't see a resurrection of an extremist caliphate, a jihadist caliphate - that remains vital. We also have in Syria many foreign terrorist fighters as well as their families who are in camps. We've been working very hard to see them repatriated to their countries of origin, but there are many thousands who remain, and we certainly don't want to see those - the foreign terrorist fighters re-emerge.
So we have an enduring interest here. We're looking at what we can do to continue to shore up that interest, but in the first instance, de-escalation, protect civilians, and then if Assad has any sense for his own - for the future of the country, actually engaging in a political process to end the civil war.
MR MILLER: Leon Bruneau with AFP.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) Mr. Secretary, thank you for doing this. I'm going to break tradition. I will only ask one question.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, I'm sure it's going to be a good one.
QUESTION: I hope so. I hope so. To stay in the region, Lebanon - now I'm simple minded, but for me, a ceasefire is what it means: no fire. It's a ceasefire. Well, there have been several incidents since the ceasefire was concluded November 27th from both sides. Do you consider that Israel is or has violated the ceasefire that was concluded last week, and is the mechanism that you had set up actually already set up? And then I wanted to ask you on your reaction, your thoughts, on a comment by the Israeli defense minister, who said - threatened that Israel would be ready to go deeper into Lebanon and would also not make the distinction anymore between Hizballah and the Lebanese state. Thank you very much.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: So first, the ceasefire itself is the product of intense and sustained diplomacy to get it. But any ceasefire, if it's going to be - if it's going to be upheld, needs to have something in place to verify it, to deal with any concerns or allegations of violations of the ceasefire. That's what's so important about what we were able to set up working with France. We have an oversight mechanism. If there are concerns that one party or the other is violating the ceasefire, it comes to us, and one way or another, we engage the parties. That's exactly what's happened. The ceasefire is holding, and we're using the mechanism that was established when any concerns have arisen about any alleged or purported violations.
I think fundamentally, both parties - that is to say Israel and Hizballah, through the Lebanese Government - wanted and continue to want the ceasefire. The interest that Israel has in making sure that its people can return home to the north, where some 70,000 have been forced to flee their homes since Hizballah has been lobbing rockets and missiles into Israel virtually every day since October 7th, is real. The ceasefire and making sure that it - that it's sustained is the best way to do that.
I think Israelis recognize as well, from their history, from their experience - 18 years of an occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000, a war in 2006 where they went deeper and stayed longer and suffered losses as a consequence - I think they are very mindful that the best way to having enduring security is through what we've established, a ceasefire, but we have to make sure that it's upheld, and we are determined to do that. France is determined to do that.
And I'm not going to speculate about what's going to happen in the future. I can only talk about the clear interests of the parties. And Israel's interest is making sure that the terms of the ceasefire are fully implemented by Hizballah, and that includes moving Hizballah back to the north. It includes making sure the Lebanese Armed Forces are effectively deployed in the south along the border; that they have the authorities, as they do, to deal with arms that they find, to deal with infrastructure that they find; and that we have an effective mechanism, again, to deal with any alleged violations, and as necessary, make sure that the ceasefire can be enforced.
That's where we are. I am, again, very focused on making sure that we carry forward. Let's see where we are after the initial 60 days. But we - mostly what we want to see is people being able to return to their homes, and that's both in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon.
QUESTION: So you don't consider that there's been any violations so far?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Again, that's the entire purpose of the mechanism we've set up and that's being used, which is to say we get reports of violations, we look at them, we engage the parties, and that's exactly what we've done.
QUESTION: There are reports that some - in the press that you have told the Israelis that they are in violation of the ceasefire. Is that correct?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Yeah, well, I'm not going to - I'm not going to respond to or get into any private diplomatic conversations that we've had. All I can tell you is the mechanism that we established with France to make sure that the ceasefire is effectively monitored and implemented is working, and we want to make sure it continues to work.
MR MILLER: And for the final question, Sergei Goryashko with BBC Russian Service.
QUESTION: Thank you. Secretary Blinken, thank you for taking this question, sir. I'd like to follow up with my colleague from Washington Post. Can you please tell which diplomatic measures to strengthen Ukrainian positions before the hypothetical talks with Russia, Moscow - did you discuss yesterday with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, with other ministers, if you discussed any?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: A big part of our focus here at NATO - conversations we had in the - with the North Atlantic Council, with the NATO-Ukraine Council, in many conversations that we've had individually - has been focused on everything we need to do to further strengthen Ukraine as it heads into the new year. And as I mentioned, we're focused in very practical, concrete ways really on three things. Making sure that it has the money, the resources it needs to sustain its economy and to sustain its defense - we've now managed on the basis of the frozen sovereign assets, the Russian assets that are frozen, to get $50 billion to Ukraine that will be going out the door in the next - in the coming weeks, both from the United States and Europe. And that will carry Ukraine for some time into next year.
Second, munitions and everything that goes with that - whether it's air defenses, whether it's missiles, whether it's armored vehicles. We're working in a very determined way, again, to make sure for many months ahead that Ukraine will have what it needs. The United States is pushing out the door everything that we can. But beyond that, we have this process long established - Secretary Austin established at Ramstein - to make sure that we're fully coordinated with allies and partners. And that's exactly what we're doing. And we spent time, again, talking about what the needs are and how each of us can play a part in filling them.
And then finally, mobilization. This is critical, because with - even with the money, even with the munitions, there have to be people on the front lines to deal with the Russian aggression. Ukraine has hard decisions to make about further mobilization, but these are necessary decisions. We have a commitment, though. For every person, every soldier that Ukraine mobilizes, we're committed to making sure that they have the training and the equipment they need to effectively defend the country. And again, that's what we focused on.
Going forward, as I said, Ukraine is on an irreversible path to NATO membership, but we're focused on this in a practical way. We set up a dedicated NATO command whose purpose is to help speed Ukraine down that path to membership. And one of the things we focused on here was making sure that that command was fully resourced, and now countries have stepped up to make sure that they have the people in place to make the command operational. That as a practical matter, along with the reforms that Ukraine continues to engage, is what's going to move it to membership in the Alliance.
So Ukraine is on a clear trajectory that we've worked to establish and that we want to make sure continues through the end of this year and well into next year, and that way the Ukrainians will be in a strong position to make the decisions that they need to make about their future. If Russia insists on continuing the aggression, Ukraine will be able to deal with it. If Russia is actually prepared to negotiate in good faith, Ukraine will be able to do it from a stronger position.
And I'd conclude by saying this. Look, fundamentally, the extraordinary achievement for Ukraine and for Ukrainians is that this is a country that is still standing strong. Remember what Putin was trying to achieve. He was trying to erase Ukraine from the map. That was the objective, and he has failed. Ukraine has a path where it will stand strong as an independent country, making its own decisions about the future, able to fend for itself militarily, economically, democratically. We have to continue to make the investments necessary to move it down that path, but that is the ultimate success: a strong, independent Ukraine increasingly integrated with the institutions of the transatlantic community, including NATO, including the European Union.
And what we worked to do today, again, was to make sure that it has what it needs both to deal with the immediate aggression, but also to continue down that path to a country that not only survives but thrives in the years ahead.
Thank you.
