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Today we have a very important meeting, NATO-EU meeting.

Of course, the European Union and NATO are very natural partners, as [the] majority of European Union members are also members of NATO. So, our collective defence is based in NATO. Yesterday we heard [US] Secretary [of State] Rubio also saying that they are committed to NATO, but European countries should be stronger. That is exactly what we are doing.

We have the White Paper on Defence, which talks about how we can unblock funds to do more for defence, to do more for capabilities, to do more for cooperation, and eventually make NATO stronger.

So, this plan goes actually hand in hand with NATO's capability targets. It helps the NATO countries - European countries also - to fulfill their capability targets that we have in NATO. In turn, it makes the whole of NATO stronger, which is our goal.

Q&A

Q. Did you get reassurances from Secretary Rubio that in discussions with Vladimir Putin, the US will not make concessions that go against the interests and the red lines of Ukraine and Europe? 
It was stressed that nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, and of course Ukraine and Europe need to be agreeing to whatever is discussed, because this is all happening in Europe. So, yes, he was giving us assurances about this.

Q. The new US tariffs could have a strong negative impact on Europe's ability to invest in defence. Do you think that these tariffs are in line with Article 2 of NATO, and how are you going to address this issue? 
As I have said before, there are no winners in trade wars and, of course, all these tariffs are not very positive development, because if we have natural partners, like America and Europe are, if we have a trade war, then our adversaries are looking on the side. So, of course, our trade people are dealing with trade negotiations to have a more positive outcome of this but we are also ready to defend our interests. It is clear that it raises prices for the consumers and companies, and eventually it is not good. But on the defence side, we really need to move [forward] with the proposals. Of course, we need to also develop our economies to be able to fund defence spending that we need to do.

Q. Yesterday, Marco Rubio said that the U.S. will remain in NATO, in addition to the tariffs. That was the big news of the day. So, what does it tell us about the state of the alliance when something so self-evident is making headlines? 
Well, you are the journalist, so you can tell what it means. We are living in very unpredictable times, and therefore maybe it is good to reassure the things that seem self-evident and give the reassurance that some things are still in place. I think that is why it was important for everybody to hear this, and this is how we move forward.

Q. Today marks NATO's 76th birthday. What would be the greatest gift for you? 
It is that NATO is 76 years [old] and it is fully functional. We are talking about military plans, we are talking about capability targets, all this. And what is very important for me is how NATO cooperates with the European Union. We can complement each other, because the majority of European countries are also NATO countries. So, I think this is a good platform to go forward.

Q. Why do you believe that the United States still sees Russia as a direct threat and not as a potential business partner? 
The picture is quite clear. Russia has attacked another country and has not given up its goals. They are spending more than 9% of their GDP on the military, so they will want to use it again unless we are strong enough, unless we do our own homework when it comes to defence spending, then we are under threat ourselves. And I think it is also more global, because all the aggressors or would-be aggressors of the world are really carefully watching right now.
Thank you, all the best.

• Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-270043