December 4, 2024
Good afternoon, everyone. This is my last NATO ministerial meeting as Secretary of State, so today I will return the keys to our apartment in Brussels and hope to get my deposit back after four years of renting. But honestly, I sincerely thank all my NATO colleagues—the permanent representatives, foreign ministers, the Secretary General, and the entire team—for our extraordinary work together over the past four years to enhance the security of all the citizens we are privileged to represent and to improve their well-being. I especially want to thank Secretary General Rutte, who has dedicated himself to this work and is doing an outstanding job leading NATO. I am confident in the future of NATO under his leadership.
At the beginning of my tenure as Secretary of State, NATO's then-strategic concept viewed Russia as a partner, did not mention China, and did not adequately recognize or address urgent threats such as cyber and climate issues. In 2021, I laid out President Biden's vision for revitalizing and modernizing NATO. Over the past four years, NATO has undergone the most significant reforms and enhancements in decades. Today, NATO has become a larger, stronger, and better-resourced alliance to face future challenges.
None of this was inevitable. It is due to President Biden's leadership, our ongoing diplomatic engagement, and the establishment of a sense of unity and common purpose. We have a new NATO strategic concept. It recognizes that Russia is the most direct threat to NATO, while also emphasizing the new security environment we find ourselves in, which includes threats from the People's Republic of China and transnational challenges—from emerging and disruptive technologies to climate change and terrorism. In 2020, only 9 countries in our alliance had achieved the commitment made at the 2014 Wales Summit to spend 2% of their national GDP on defense. Today, that number is 23 countries, with the rest of the allies also making progress towards fulfilling the Wales commitment.
We have added Finland and Sweden as two new allies, greatly strengthening our alliance for the future. The alliance itself has also enhanced our defense and deterrence capabilities. We have doubled our military presence on the eastern flank. We have updated our command structure. We are implementing new defense plans. We have strengthened capabilities across all domains, including cyberspace and outer space. These enduring commitments and investments will help provide security for our citizens for many years to come.
Today, perhaps nothing reflects the unity and determination of allies more than the steadfast support we have given to Ukraine since the Russian invasion. Putin has repeatedly attempted to undermine our resolve and that of the Ukrainian people. He has failed; he will continue to fail. In recent weeks, Russia has taken dangerous escalatory actions, including deploying more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers, lowering the threshold for nuclear weapon use in its military doctrine, launching medium-range ballistic missiles with potential nuclear capabilities, increasing threats to Ukraine and its partners, continuing brutal attacks on the power grid, weaponizing winter, and attempting to force people out of their cold homes through power outages.
However, more than 1,000 days after the outbreak of full-scale invasion, Ukraine continues to stand firm, and NATO stands unwaveringly with Ukraine. We have provided important non-lethal assistance through NATO. We established the NATO-Ukraine Council, which just held a meeting in Brussels. We launched a new command, the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, to coordinate future efforts and help Ukraine accelerate its process of joining NATO. The United States has been increasing our own resources and security assistance, continuing to help Ukraine build air defense systems, artillery, and armored vehicles. We are determined—this is fully in line with my wishes and the President's wishes—to use every penny of the $61 billion approved by Congress in the supplemental appropriations.
With the efforts of the G7, we are completing a $50 billion loan backed by frozen Russian assets. Meanwhile, NATO allies and partners are also sharing the burden and taking on more responsibilities. For example, Germany has just committed to provide $680 million in new military aid. Countries like Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Sweden will provide personnel to this new NATO command. Overall, the United States has provided $102 billion in aid to Ukraine, and our allies and partners have provided $158 billion. As I have said many times before, this may be the best example of burden-sharing I have seen in my 32 years of work.
Of course, in terms of our own investments, most of the investments have gone into our own defense industrial base to produce weapons that Ukraine needs, and these investments are strengthening our defense industrial base and providing good jobs for Americans. We welcome the Ukrainian Foreign Minister to NATO alongside the EU's new High Representative Kaja Kallas, during which we reaffirmed our commitment to Ukraine's defense and its irreversible accession to NATO and the EU. We will continue to coordinate to ensure that Ukraine has sufficient funding, ammunition, and maneuver forces to fight if necessary next year—or negotiate from a position of strength.
The situation in Ukraine also indicates that European security and security in the Indo-Pacific region are intertwined. Over the past four years, there has been unprecedented consensus among allies about the challenges that China poses to transatlantic security, including China's critical support for Russia's defense industrial base. This support has enabled Russia to continue its aggressive war and has exacerbated the greatest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War. However, Europe’s position in addressing the various challenges posed by Russia and China in different ways is increasingly converging, and cooperation between allies and partners in the transatlantic region and the Indo-Pacific region has strengthened significantly, which has been a notable feature of the past four years.
As these threats evolve and expand across regions, we have significantly strengthened our engagement outside NATO—from the Indo-Pacific to the Arctic to NATO's southern flank, reinforcing a comprehensive 360-degree approach. Yesterday, King Abdullah of Jordan was just with us, and we are very pleased that he could join the ministerial meeting. We look forward to opening a NATO Liaison Office in Amman next year—the first of its kind in the region—to further strengthen NATO's relationship with the Middle East. But I want to emphasize that this is not about NATO stepping outside its area of responsibility; rather, it is because threats outside the area of responsibility are approaching NATO. Therefore, we must work together to enhance our strength, improve our responsiveness, and focus on addressing these diverse challenges, as they are affecting the transatlantic community.
This evolution is crucial for NATO to continue adapting to the realities of the world and the evolution we are witnessing. We are at a critical moment for Ukraine and for defending the transatlantic values that NATO was founded upon. As I mentioned, we have made historic progress in strengthening NATO over the past four years, making America and the world safer. I believe that now is the time for every ally to move forward with full effort rather than retreat.
Every dollar the United States invests in our collective security—whether in strengthening cyber defenses or bolstering the defense industrial base—is an investment that will benefit NATO people now and in the years to come. A stronger NATO means having a stronger deterrent against aggression, more efficient allies to tackle more complex challenges, and peace and stability that allow our people to lead fuller lives.
Perhaps this is the last and most important point I want to emphasize. In America, throughout Europe, and around the world, people want peace. They do not want war. They want to avoid conflict. Understanding the origins and purposes of this alliance is crucial to understanding NATO.
NATO was established as one of a series of institutions after the two world wars, with the goal of preventing a recurrence of global war. What makes NATO unique is that each member state makes a commitment: an attack on one member is an attack on all members. The strength of this is that it sends a signal to any potential aggressor: if you attack one of us, you will face all of us. This deterrence is the most powerful means of preventing war and the strongest guarantee against aggression. Therefore, it is not surprising that Russia has not directly attacked NATO member states.
When we all talk about the strong desire to avoid conflict, prevent war, and achieve peace, the best way to do this is through continued investment in the world's most successful defense alliance—NATO. Thank you all.