Remarks by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte

Thank you. Thank you so much, both of you, to have me back here in European Parliament. Madam Chair, Mr Chair, Marie-Agnes and David, it's great to see you both again, but also to see all of you again.

NATO and the EU are really unique partners. And regular meetings, I strongly believe that regular meetings like we have today are an opportunity to update each other, to discuss the issues of shared interests we have, but also how we can do even more together. Just a couple of introductory remarks - I don't think I will use the full 15 minutes so that we have maximum time for debate - but just a few remarks on starting with Ukraine.

As we all know, we are now coming up to the fourth tragic anniversary of the start of Russia's all out war on Ukraine, and this is now, I would argue, the harshest winter for Ukrainians in over a decade. It is now minus 20 in Kyiv, and people are living there with all the attacks on the civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians, of course the fight on the front line, but also these attacks on the big cities. The Russians really heavily targeting this infrastructure, civilian infrastructure, and therefore leaving Ukrainians, literally in the freezing cold, it's without heat, without light, without water.

Meanwhile, the US-led peace talks are ongoing. President Trump and his team - Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, Marco Rubio - they are working hard to end the bloodshed, and this is done with the support of Europeans. The Coalition of the Willing, led by the UK and France, is driving efforts, as you know, to provide robust security guarantees, including forces to Ukraine after a peace deal with Russia. And as you know, Europe, Canada, and the US have affirmed their readiness to provide these guarantees. And they are important to make sure that Putin, after a potential peace deal or a long-term cease fire - and let's pray we have it as soon as possible - that he will never, ever try again to attack Ukraine. Because then he would know, because of the security guarantees, that he has no chance. And of course, there are also important talks going on, as you know, on how to support Ukraine's future prosperity. And here it is the EU who is playing a critical role and a very positive role and I want to thank the European Commission for everything they are doing, the President and the relevant Commissioners, to get that part of the done together with US and others.

In the meantime, as these discussions to secure a long and lasting peace continue, so does NATO's military support, including through the PURL initiative. As we speak, billions of dollars worth of essential American military hardware is flowing into Ukraine, paid for by Allies and partners, and it is absolutely vital, this flow of stuff going into Ukraine to keep Ukraine in the fight and to protect its population. There is simply no alternative. For 2026 Ukraine has forecast military requirements from donors totalling just over $60 billion and PURL also - this flow of American stuff into Ukraine - is one way for Allies to meet these requirements. Others include, as you know, the bilateral support, the multilateral initiatives, like the Czech ammunition initiative, which is very important, and of course, the investments countries are making in the Ukrainian defence industrial base. This was an initiative originally started by the Danes and Lithuanians, which is now mainstreamed with many countries in Europe.

The EU is doing vital work here. The 90-billion-euro loan package, 90 billion which will make a massive difference to Ukraine's security. It will make a massive difference to Ukraine's prosperity. But here, I would really strongly urge you to ensure flexibility in how these funds can be spent, and not to be overly restrictive by EU caveats. Europe is now building its defence industry, and that is vital, but it cannot, at the moment, provide nearly enough of what Ukraine needs to defend itself today and to deter tomorrow. So, as you take this loan forward, please, I encourage you to keep Ukraine's needs first in focus.

So, I could imagine, of course, if they can buy it in Europe, fantastic - priority one. Ukraine defence industry base, great. But we all know that without this flow of weaponry from the US, we cannot keep Ukraine in the fight. Literally not. They now provide essential interceptors, for example, to take down as many missiles as possible going into Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities, night by night. NATO and the EU are now working hand in hand, both in Brussels and in Kyiv to help Ukraine. Our coordination of military aid, the training of the Ukrainian armed forces, the efforts, of course, to boost the Ukrainian defence industry, they are all very much complementary, and we need to keep it up. It matters for Ukraine's security and I think we all know it is also our security which is at stake here.

Then, second topic, investing in defence. We had a successful Summit in The Hague in June, where we agreed to invest five per cent of GDP annually in defence by 2035 and to speed up the production and the innovation of our defence production. Five per cent, of course, is a lot, and boosting our industrial base is not easy. But here my simple message is, we need to do it, and we need to do it fast. First, because the security situation demands it. We face, as we speak, real and lasting challenges to our security.

And second because the time when we conveniently let the United States carry much of the burden for our shared security is simply over. It's fair and appropriate that Europe and Canada take more responsibility for their own security, and the good news is they do. Ensuring Allies step up and speed up efforts on defence will, for me, for NATO be our absolute priority as we prepare for the next Summit which will be in Ankara in July. And here a more capable European defence is crucial but it is vital that the EU's efforts on defence are compatible with NATO, they complement what we already do, and what we already have.

At NATO, we are tried and tested when it comes to standards, structures, procedures, and the contributions and capabilities of NATO's non-EU Allies are indispensable for our collective defence. So, my argument will be, let's be practical, let's be realistic when it comes to our security. We need to leverage our respective strength, NATO-EU even more, use the common pot of money, the single set of forces and the vast amount of industrial and innovation power we have across the Alliance. That's the only way to keep Europe safe.

And that brings me to my final point which is partnerships. Because it is undeniable that as we speak, we know that Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, they are aligning more and more. And they are challenging us, but their partnership is not yet well developed. And at NATO and the EU, we are miles ahead of Iran, China, North Korea and Russia. We are really miles ahead. Our nations know well what cooperation means and what it can achieve. This is true of NATO, it is true of the EU, it is also true of our work with partners across the world, close by in the Western Balkans and on the southern flank and further away in the Indo-Pacific, with Korea - South Korea, with Japan, Australia, New Zealand. So, I think it is really in our shared interest at NATO and the EU to build on these partnerships, learn from one another and truly make our shared security a joint endeavour.

And one final word on this, when I had my first lunch with Ursula von der Leyen in October '24 after I came in as new Secretary General of NATO, we basically said it is simple. NATO is good at standards, NATO is good at capability targets, NATO is strong when it comes to command and control. The EU has its strength in the internal market, and therefore in building the defence industrial base. The EU is great when it comes to bringing together the money needed, the EU is great in resilience, but the EU is also great when it comes to regulation - and here we need particularly deregulation - I know you are working on it.

So, my plea is, let's really focus on that division of labour so that collectively we can be as strong as possible and you know that 23 countries in the EU are also in NATO, and that represents 96% of the EU's population is in NATO. And of course, there are nine other NATO countries, a lot of them in Europe, who are not in the EU, but there is a large overlap between the EU and NATO. And I think, with thay division of labour, we can be stronger than ever. So, with that, and five minutes still left for me to speak…thank you.