WEBVTT

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Good afternoon everyone . It is , is

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always a great pleasure to welcome the

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Secretary General back to Washington

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back to the State Department . So good

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to be with you . Um before I begin and

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with your permission , I just want to

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briefly update everyone on our efforts

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to assist Turkey and Syria in the

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aftermath of monday's earthquakes . Um

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the loss of life has been truly

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staggering , shocking . Um

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we uh I think along with people around

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the world , our morning , those have

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been lost . And uh also our thoughts

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are so with those who have lost loved

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ones . Um so far we have deployed more

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than 100 and 50 search and rescue

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personnel to Turkey . We have U . S .

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Helicopters that are helping to reach

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areas that would otherwise be difficult

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to access . Uh In Syria , we have NGO

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partners that we funded over the years

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that are providing life saving

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assistance to those in need across both

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countries . We've deployed experienced

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emergency managers , hazardous

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materials , technicians , engineers ,

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logisticians , paramedics planners ,

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others along with about 100 and 70,000

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lb of specialized tools and equipment .

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Uh so that's been the initial response

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uh in the days ahead , we'll we'll have

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more to say about how we'll continue to

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support both the Turkish and Syrian

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people as they work to recover from

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this devastation . Turning back to

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today , the Secretary General and I

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were last together in november for the

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NATO foreign Ministers meeting , the

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members of our alliance left that

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meeting in Bucharest , even more

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unified , more resolute and more

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committed in our support for Ukraine ,

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which is in large part uh due to the

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remarkable leadership that Secretary

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General Stoltenberg has engaged in over

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over the last year during what has been

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a decisive time for NATO and for the

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world . His strong and steady hand has

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helped steer our alliance in the right

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direction . Now , as we approach the

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one year mark since President Putin

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launches brutal war against Ukraine ,

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it's critical that we maintain and

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increase that support . President

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Putin's war continues to be a strategic

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failure . He's failed to overthrow the

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democratically elected government of

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Ukraine . He's failed to subsume

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Ukraine into Russia or to break the

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will of his people . He's lost the

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battles for key for hockey for her son .

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His military is suffering staggering

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losses on the battlefield and he's

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failed to weaken our alliance and what

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it stands for . In fact , that alliance

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NATO is stronger and more united than

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it's ever been today . We focused on

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steps that we can take to ensure that

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Ukraine has the security assistance

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that it needs to defend its territory

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against Russian aggression . And we'll

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continue that conversation this

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afternoon when we're joined by the

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Secretary of Defense . But Austin and

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the national security adviser , Jake .

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Sullivan here at the State Department .

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We've calibrated our assistance to meet

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Ukraine's changing needs from the

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outside of the Russian invasion . And

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that's exactly what we'll continue to

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do . Two weeks ago President Biden

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announced that the United States would

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send Abrams tanks to Ukraine Germany

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committed to send its leopard tanks and

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authorized other partners to do the

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same . This followed the earlier

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announcement by the United Kingdom that

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it would be sending challenger two

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tanks to Ukraine's defenders . Last

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week , we also announced two new

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assistance packages uh , which will

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provide critical air defense and

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counter drone capabilities to help

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Ukraine defend its people , including

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against the threat posed by U . A . V .

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S supplied by Iran , which shares

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Russia's authoritarian vision and is

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increasingly aiding and abetting its

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aggression . We're also providing

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armored infantry vehicles and more of

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the equipment that Ukraine is using so

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effectively like javelin , antitank

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missiles , artillery , ammunition and

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rockets for us provided by mars . In

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total , the United States has committed

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nearly $30 billion

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$13

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billion

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Europe

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at large has made to this effort are

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very significant and um , making a

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profound difference . As President

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Zelensky has said , diplomacy is the

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only way to definitively end Russia's

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war of aggression and to create a path

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to peace that is both just and durable .

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Clearly , President Putin has no

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genuine interest in diplomacy right now .

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Here's what he said just a few weeks

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ago unless and until Ukraine accepts

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the new territorial realities in

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quotation marks . There's nothing to

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even talk about . In other words ,

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Ukraine and the world must somehow

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acquiesce to President Putin's land

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grab . That should be a nonstarter for

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every country in the world that cares

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about the U . N . Charter and

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preserving international peace and

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security . The best way to hasten

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prospects for real diplomacy is to keep

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tilting the battlefield in Ukraine's

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favor . This will help ensure that

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Ukraine has the strongest possible hand

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to play at a negotiating table . When

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one emerges , we also

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discussed the systemic and tactical

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challenges that china presents to the

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alliance and the broader international

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system . Uh Last week , Beijing

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violated international law and U . S .

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Sovereignty with the presence of a

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chinese surveillance balloon in U . S .

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Airspace . This was an irresponsible

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act in response to which we acted

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responsibly and prudently to protect

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our interests . Um , there is an

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ongoing operation to recover the

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balloons components . Uh We're

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analyzing them to learn more about the

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surveillance program . We'll pair that

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with what we learned from the balloon

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itself . What we learn from the balloon

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itself with what we gleaned based on

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our careful observation of the system

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when it was in our airspace as the

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president directed his team to do .

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We'll also share relevant findings with

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Congress as well as with our allies and

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partners around the world . Senior

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administration officials are on the

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hill this week and we already shared

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information with dozens of countries

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around the world , both from Washington

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and through our embassies were doing so

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because the United States was not the

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only target of this broader program

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which has violated the sovereignty of

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countries across five continents . In

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our engagements , we are again hearing

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from our partners that the world

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expects china and the United States to

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manage our relationship responsibly .

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That's precisely what we set out to do .

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We continue to urge china to do the

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same . We're also continuing to

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strengthen and broaden NATO's

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partnerships and weave them together in

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new ways . The United States welcome

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the Secretary General's visit to South

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Korea , Japan last week as an extension

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of those efforts demonstrating the

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growing synergy between our atlantic

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and pacific alliances and of course ,

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we're very focused on the accession of

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Sweden and Finland to NATO . These

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countries are ready to bring their

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strengths to bear on our alliance .

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They're capable , they're trusted

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partners , they're strong democracies

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that are dedicated to the values that

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underpin the alliance will continue to

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push for the completion of this process

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as we head toward the building of

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summit in july and as we look to

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Vilnius , our alliance is working to

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operationalize the strategic concept to

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make sure that NATO is fit for the

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future , including on challenges like

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emerging technologies , cyber defense ,

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climate and energy security . These

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were all significant achievements under

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the leadership of Secretary General

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Stoltenberg in bringing forward uh and

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having approved a new strategic concept

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for the alliance to reflect the

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realities of the moment we're living in

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and to project what we need to do into

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the future . So it's a busy time . But

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we're confident about what our lines

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can achieve . Confident because of the

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great unity that we've shown again and

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again over the last year and confident

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because of the shared purpose we bring

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to the year and the years ahead with

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that over to you , Secretary Blinken

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Daytona , it's great to be back in

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Washington and to be together with you

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again , I would like to start by

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commending President Biden and the

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United States for providing such strong

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leadership at the time when we face the

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most serious security crisis in a

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generation . And thank you Tony for

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your personal commitment and your

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leadership on every issue related to

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NATO . And the vital bond between

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America and europe . Unwavering

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american leadership and bipartisan

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support have ensured that NATO allies

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are united like never before and

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our unity makes a real difference .

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President Putin launched his illegal

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war aggression almost a year ago .

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Since then , NATO allies have provided

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unprecedented support for Ukraine

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around $120 billion dollars in

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military , humanitarian and financial

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assistance . As the biggest ally . The

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United States is playing an

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indispensable role in supporting

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Ukraine european NATO allies and

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Canada have stepped up as well ,

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contributing over half of the overall

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assistance , including tanks , advanced

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air defense systems and other military

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equipment . Europeans have also

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welcomed almost five million refugees

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from Ukraine applied unprecedented

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sanctions and decoupled from Russian

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gas and Russian oil . This shows how

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much we can do when europe and north

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America stand together . Today , we

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discussed the situation in Ukraine .

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Putin started this war of aggression

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and he can end this war today by

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withdrawing his troops from Ukraine and

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coming to the negotiating table .

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But regrettably we see no sign that

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Russia is preparing for peace . On the

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contrary , Moscow is preparing for new

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military offensives . So we must

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continue to provide Ukraine with the

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weapons it needs to retake territory

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and prevail as a sovereign independent

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nation . If Putin

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wins , it would be a strategy for

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Ukraine but it will also be dangerous

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for all of us . It will send a clear

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message not just to Putin but also to

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other authoritarian regimes , that when

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they use force they can achieve their

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goals that will make the world more

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dangerous and all of us more vulnerable .

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Beijing is watching closely and

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learning lessons that may influence its

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future decisions . So what happens in

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europe today could happen in Asia

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tomorrow china is substantially

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building up its military forces

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including nuclear weapons . Without any

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transparency , it is attempting to

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assert control over the south china sea

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and threatening Taiwan trying to take

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control of critical infrastructure

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including in NATO countries ,

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repressing its own citizens and

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trampling on human rights and deepening

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its strategic partnership with Moscow .

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So NATO allies had real concerns which

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we discussed today in

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this more dangerous and more

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competitive world . We must continue to

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strengthen our deterrence and defense

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and further increase defense spending

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and that is what we are doing In

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2014 under the Obama Biden

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administration , all NATO allies agreed

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the defense investment page . Since

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then we have seen eight consecutive

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years of increased defense spending

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across Europe and Canada With an

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additional 350 million

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extra US dollar spent . More

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countries are now spending at least 2%

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of GDP on defense and I expect that

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trend to continue

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today . We also discussed the

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importance of completing Finland and

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Sweden's accession to NATO at the

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Madrid summit last july all

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allies made a historic decision to

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invite both countries to join NATO .

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All allies have signed the accession

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protocols and 28 allies have already

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ratified the agreement . Finland

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and Sweden are now being integrated

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into the civilian and military

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structures of our alliance . This has

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always strengthen their security and it

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is inconceivable that allies will not

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act should Finland or Sweden come under

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pressure .

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It is important that we conclude this

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membership process as soon as possible .

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This will strengthen the security of

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all allies . Secretary Blinken d'Antoni ,

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thank you again for your strong

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personal commitment and uh for the

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extraordinary ship of the United States

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as we face global challenges together .

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Now turn to questions . We will start

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with leon Bruno of the A . F . PP