Joint press conference by the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, 10 July 2023.
🗣 | NATO Secretary General:
President Nausėda, dear Gitanas,
Thank you so much for the warm welcome.
Let me also thank the government of Lithuania and people of Lithuania for hosting the upcoming Summit here in Vilnius.
This week at the NATO Summit, we will strengthen our deterrence and defence, including with more investment.
We will step up our support for Ukraine, and move Ukraine closer to NATO.
And we will work even more closely with partners to support the rules-based international order.
I was last here in Lithuania just two weeks ago.
Together, we met Lithuanian and German troops participating in Exercise Griffin Storm.
Demonstrating our ability to reinforce our presence in Lithuania to brigade size.
At the Summit, we will take further major steps to strengthen our deterrence and defence.
Including three new regional plans.
Backed by 300,000 troops on high readiness.
And major capabilities across all domains.
This sends a clear message that we will defend every inch of Lithuania.
And every inch of Allied territory.
We will also take decisions on Ukraine.
This includes a multi-year package of assistance.
To transition from Soviet-era to NATO equipment and standards, making Ukraine’s forces fully interoperable with Allies.
And covering critical needs like demining equipment, fuel, and medical supplies.
We will also upgrade our political ties.
President Zelenskyy will join us for the inaugural meeting of the new NATO-Ukraine Council.
And tomorrow, Allies will address Ukraine’s path towards NATO membership.
To continue supporting Ukraine and strengthening our own forces, we need to invest more in defence.
So Allies will set a more ambitious defence investment pledge.
Building on nine consecutive years of increased defence spending across European Allies and Canada.
This includes a rise of 8.3% in real terms this year – the biggest increase in defence spending in decades.
We will also meet with our close partners in Vilnius, the European Union.
And the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.
This will be Finland’s first Summit as a NATO Ally.
And we look forward to Sweden joining as soon as possible.
I will meet with President Erdogan and Prime Minister Kristersson later today as the next step in this process.
So, President Nausėda,
Thank you again for your hospitality and Lithuania’s many contributions to NATO.
Thank you.
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