Pre-ministerial press conference

Good morning, and it is good to see you all here in this building.

As you know this week, NATO Foreign Ministers will meet in Helsingborg, in Sweden, where we will prepare for the NATO Summit in Ankara in early July.

This will be the first meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers hosted by Sweden, and we are grateful to them for their hospitality.

As you know, Sweden is NATO's newest Ally, having joined in 2024 after many years of military non-alignment. This says a great deal about how fundamentally our security environment has changed, especially when it comes to Europe.

It is more dangerous, more contested. And that makes it all the more important that NATO Allies work together to safeguard our freedom and security.

Russia remains the most direct threat to Euro-Atlantic security. It continues to wage a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, Allies face persistent and growing attempts to undermine our security and stability including cyber-attacks, sabotage, and threats to our critical infrastructure.

And this is why Allies took a historic decision on defence investment in The Hague. And it is why Ankara will be about delivering on our commitments.

The question is no longer whether we need to do more.

The question is how quickly Allies can turn commitments into capabilities.

In Helsingborg, Foreign Ministers will help prepare the Summit in Ankara.

They will discuss how we are delivering on the defence investment plan agreed in The Hague; strengthening our warfighting capabilities; and ramping up defence industrial production on both sides of the Atlantic.

We need a credible path to deliver the commitments agreed in The Hague. A credible path means steady, sustained increases in defence investment. Allies are already investing more. Much more. And we see many working to accelerate the pace of investment. To chart an ambitious but achievable trajectory to the investment we know we need.

And delivering means not only getting the budget right. But ensuring the investments yield capabilities. So that our militaries have what they need to deter and defend - more air and missile defence, more long-range strike capabilities, more drones, more ammunition, and larger stockpiles.

This means we need to produce faster and at a greater scale - on both sides of the Atlantic.

NATO is - and will always be - a transatlantic Alliance.

Part of keeping this Alliance strong involves shifting responsibilities. Moving away from unhealthy over-reliance on one Ally to a fairer sharing of the responsibility for our collective security.

Europe and Canada are stepping up. They are investing more, and taking on more responsibility for conventional defence. And, as anticipated, the United States is also adapting.

We see this not only as the US adjusts its force posture in Europe. But in the new distribution of leadership roles for example in NATO's Command Structure - where Europe will lead all three Joint Force Commands, while the US will lead the three component commands.

We will continue to see this transformation to a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO: NATO 3.0.

A stronger NATO, with a healthier, more sustainable division of responsibilities to deliver the security we all need.

In Helsingborg, we will discuss our continued strong support for Ukraine - another priority for the Ankara Summit. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha will join us tomorrow evening in Sweden.

Ukraine's security is directly linked to our own security. Ministers will discuss how to ensure support for Ukraine remains substantial, sustainable, and predictable - and based on Ukraine's requirements.

PURL remains an important mechanism for delivering urgent support to Ukraine. Allies continue to contribute -with the most recent announcements of more than half a billion dollars from Norway and Canada.

Since the launch of this initiative last summer, PURL has supplied around 70% of all missiles for Ukraine's Patriot batteries, including PAC-3, and 90% of the ammunition used in other air defence systems. This support continues to flow.

But we must to build on this further, and ensure that Allied support remains sustainable for the long term.

We continue to see the impacts of the war Russia is raging against Ukraine.

Just yesterday, as part of NATO's Baltic Air Policing, Romanian F-16's downed a drone over Estonia. This was a Ukrainian drone, but it wouldn't have been there but for Russia's aggression.

The key is that NATO's air defences were effective yet again and we will continue to improve our capacity to address any threat to our territory or to our people.

Ministers will exchange views on key developments affecting Allied security, including in the Middle East.

As I reflect on current developments, I see two distinct situations - both of which carry significant implications for our security. On one hand, there is the US effort to ensure Iran doesn't obtain nuclear weapons - and a nuclear Iran is an outcome the NATO Alliance and the broader international community has long deemed unacceptable.

On the other, Iran is trying to hold the global economy hostage by closing a vital waterway on which much of the world depends - especially many NATO Allies and partners. This is a direct assault on freedom of navigation and global commerce. Importantly, we are now seeing many countries coming together around plans to ensure freedom of navigation. Some are moving assets to the region including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and others. And this preparation is key to ensure that the Strait can be opened for transit.

And as we discuss the current situation, we will also discuss how to further strengthen cooperation with NATO's partners in the Gulf region.

So, our meeting in Helsingborg will have a broad agenda - but the central theme is clear.

The central theme is delivery.

Delivery of our deterrence and defence, of a stronger, fairer NATO, delivery of support for Ukraine, and ultimately of the security of one billion people across the Alliance.

And with that, I am ready to take your questions.