NATO Secretary General with the President of Ukraine 🇺🇦 Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv, 03 OCT 2024

Joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, in Kyiv, 3 October 2024.

During his maiden trip as NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte visited Kyiv. The Secretary General met with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and pledged continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

🗣 | NATO Secretary General:

Dear Volodymyr,
Thank you for your warm welcome.

This is now my fifth time in Ukraine since the full onslaught of Russia started in February 2022. Together we visited Odessa, we visited Kharkiv, and obviously we had numerous meetings here in Kyiv. But this is my very first time as NATO Secretary General, and it was important to me that I come to Ukraine at the start of my mandate.

To make crystal clear to you, to the people of Ukraine, and to everyone watching, that NATO stands with Ukraine.

As the new NATO Secretary General,
it is my priority and my privilege to take this support forward,
working with you to ensure that Ukraine prevails.

Volodymyr, I have said this before and I say it again, your tireless leadership is an inspiration to me, to us all.

The dedication of your armed forces and the determination of the Ukrainian people remind us of just how precious freedom is.
And how crucial it is that we do all we can to defend it.

And this is why NATO was founded 75 years ago –
to safeguard the freedom and security of all of our members.

And this is why we are so committed to supporting Ukraine –
because your security matters for ours,
and your fight for freedom reflects our core principles and values.

NATO Allies have provided Ukraine with unprecedented support since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Including more than 99% of all military aid.

But we know that you need more.
So Allies agreed at the NATO Summit in Washington this summer to make sure we could provide you with more –
more equipment, more training, more support.

We are setting up a NATO Command
to coordinate the provision of security assistance and training –
helping to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs,
gets what is promised,
and that the support provided today contributes to building a NATO-interoperable future, in the future.

Allies also have agreed to a financial pledge.
With a baseline of 40 billion euros worth of military aid within a year.
And a commitment to review this level of support every year,
so that Ukraine has what it needs to prevail.

We know the need is urgent.
And we are working hard to do more, and more quickly.
In the last few weeks, several Allies announced further military aid for Ukraine
Including new contributions from Denmark, from Latvia, the United Kingdom, and nearly 8 billion dollars of assistance from the United States.

Supporting Ukraine and replenishing our own stocks means increasing industrial production, and that will be a priority for me.

That is why in Washington, Allies agreed to enhance our defence industrial capacity.
Working among Allies – on both sides of the Atlantic.
And also with you, with Ukraine.
To help build your domestic capacity, which has proven so effective and can only be improved with further investment and further innovation.


Indeed, as you said, today, we discussed all of these elements.
The areas where Ukraine needs further support.
And the ways in which NATO is working to provide it.

Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever before.
And will continue on this path until you become a member of our Alliance.
I very much look forward to that day.

Mr President,
dear Volodymyr,
NATO stands with Ukraine.
For your security, and for ours.
Thank you once again.

Transcript continues: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/op...

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
SUBSCRIBE to this channel https://bit.ly/NATOsubscribe
SUBSCRIBE to NATO News https://bit.ly/NATONewsSubscribe
SUBSCRIBE to NATO History https://bit.ly/NATOHistorySubscribe

Connect with NATO online:

Visit the Official NATO Homepage: https://bit.ly/NATOhomepage
Receive NATO updates via email: https://bit.ly/NATOemails
Find NATO on FACEBOOK: https://bit.ly/NATOfacebook
Follow @NATO on X/TWITTER: https://bit.ly/NATOtwitter
Follow NATO on Instagram: https://bit.ly/NATOinstagram
Find NATO on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/NATOlinkedin
Find NATO on Flickr: https://bit.ly/NATOflickr

#NATO #OTAN