FOREIGN MINISTER GUNNARSDÓTTIR: (In Icelandic.) Thank you all for being here. I will not continue in Icelandic, my dear Marco, and thank you especially for visiting Iceland. I think that demonstrates also very well our close connections and good relationship. And it has actually been, from my point of view, a productive morning. I would say so. We started, as you know, at Hofdi House, where we first had the opportunity to hear about the historic summit back almost 40 years ago between President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, and I hope you enjoyed our meeting in Hofdi. I thought there's a kind of special atmosphere there.

The Secretary and I, then we had an excellent bilateral meeting at Hofdi, and now, just now, we concluded a very good meeting with - here in Safnahusid with our prime minister here in Iceland, Kristrún Frostadóttir. I would say throughout our discussions, they have been good and it has been very clear that Iceland and U.S., the United States of America, we enjoy a very good and strong and also enduring friendship. We share a long history. The U.S. was - as we have already mentioned, the U.S. was the first country to recognize the Republic of Iceland back in 1944. We are both founding members of NATO 1949, and of course we have the valuable bilateral Defense Agreement between our two countries since 1951.

And we are working closely together every day here in Iceland, especially to safeguard the security of the High North, North Atlantic, and the Arctic. For us, being a credible and responsible ally, we take this role very seriously here in Iceland, especially when it comes to the U.S. and the whole of NATO. And this is also very much and strongly reflected in our new policy - and actually the first one - policy and defense and security. It also strongly emphasizes the very important relationship through defense and security with the U.S.

With Iceland and the U.S. both being Arctic nations, the Secretary and I, we fully agreed on the need to work together to ensure a safe and secure Arctic region. And I especially want to commend you, Marco, on how you have taken such a strong initiative to - in making the A7, Arctic 7 group, even more effective than it has been before. And that matters for us here in Iceland a lot.

And we also discussed the agreement that has been found between the U.S., Greenland, and Denmark, and that is also hugely important for the region that we got this good agreement on Greenland.

As we discussed also in both our meetings now today, there are ample opportunities to deepen our economic and investment relations even further - for instance, in geothermal energy. We discussed data centers, pharmaceuticals, as well as digital and other infrastructure. And we also talked about the challenging global context, which is on our minds as Russia full-scale invasion in Ukraine - very brutal, very relentless. And we touched on the dire situation in the Middle East and also we discussed our relations to China.

But above all, the Secretary and I, we had productive and constructive discussions, conversation, and I think the message is very clear. We are allies, we are friends, and we will continue working very closely to strengthen and deepen our good relationship.

So over to you, dear Marco.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, thank you for welcoming here - us here. This is a place that many Americans visit. I think the number that was shared with us as coming in and here today is over 700,000 Americans. Our great ambassador, who's only been here a couple months but is already doing a great job - so he's going to get that up to a million American visitors over the next few years, but - with direct flights from multiple cities. And now we see why people want to come here. It's a beautiful country, a wonderful people, the most peaceful country in the world. It's one of the safest countries in the world, a country that's also blessed with abundance of energy that is renewable and self-sustaining.

And so you have so many good things coming and going in your direction, and we're so happy to be a close partner of yours, as we have been for a very long time. We have tremendous respect for your - the people, and we have tremendous respect for the country and the role that it plays, and it has for a very long time. I mean, for decades this nation in Iceland has occupied a critical strategic position for our collective security, and that remains true today more than ever before.

And while the world's focus drifted over the last 20 years, the reality is the geography is always important, and we're seeing that come now to fruition. The location of this country between the United States and Europe and the High North means that it sits at the - Iceland sits at the center of many of the questions surrounding the security and the defense of our shared region.

And today those threats are growing, which is why this focus on the Arctic in general and Iceland in particular is so critical. Our potential adversaries and real competitors already - and the predatory industries associated with them - are already acting as - against our interests. And so it's important that we continue to cooperate in the security realm the way we are doing and continue to do.

Obviously I think one of the unique aspects of the country - in a positive way, I think - is that you don't have a traditional military in the traditional sense of the word, but as - but you are a NATO member and you are a contributor to collective security, and you continue to contribute that critical role in our Alliance and share the burden of defending region. And in practice, what that means and has meant for a very long time is you welcoming NATO Allies to come here and to operate jointly within Icelandic territory, and we want to continue to build upon that as a way to prevent conflict - not as a way to encourage conflict or provoke conflict, but prevent it.

History teaches us that deterrence is the best prevention of violence and the best preventer of war. And you play such - have played such a strategic role in the past and continue to play that now. So since the Second World War, Iceland has allowed the U.S. military to project power and collectively working together, using your land, your air, your sea; giving us a critical outpost for monitoring clandestine behavior and deterring our adversaries from entering your sovereign territory and the sovereign territory of our mutual allies.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 U.S.-Iceland Defense Agreement. And I'm proud to say that our military and our Icelandic partners continue to work together to secure this land and the waters that surround it. Just last month, over 1,200 Americans participated along with our allies in the Northern Viking 2026 military exercise, something that's occurred every year and will continue to occur.

And - but I want to talk a little bit beyond the military and security domain, because Iceland is not just an important security partner; it is a critical partner in our mutual economic interests for the foreseeable future. Your landscapes, for example, have been the training ground for American astronauts since the Appollo program and continues to host training missions for the Artemis missions. Your expertise in geothermal energy and biotechnology and marine industries, those present incredible opportunities for greater commercial and technological cooperation.

We discussed that today and our efforts to perhaps - we are going to work now on building out a group of American industries and present them to investment opportunities that exist here, and likewise identify for your companies here investment opportunities that may exist in the United States. That's how you continue to build upon the economic bonds that lead to our shared prosperity and our mutual prosperity, so that's important. So today we discussed concrete ideas about how we can deepen cooperation in these fields and further strengthen our robust bilateral relationship to benefit our people.

So I really look forward to - as I said, we had an opportunity to engage in Ankara earlier this year. I told you I would be coming soon, and I'm here now and I'm happy to have come. This is my first visit here in any capacity. I believe - and we discussed this earlier - it's probably the first bilateral visit by a secretary of state in a very long time. I know Secretary Blinken had been here as part of a broader gathering earlier, but - and maybe we'll be able to - but this, I think this is the first time a secretary of state comes in a long time in terms of a bilateral visit, and perhaps it won't be the last one because of how much esteem we have for your country, for your government, for your people, and for the importance of this relationship.

So really, really happy to be here, really glad I came. And now I know, just in the limited things I've gotten to see - because obviously there's only so much you can see through the window of a hotel and the window of a car, but you can see why people fall in love with this country and you can see why Americans are fascinated by it, and we want to build upon that both in the tourism sector, in the economic sector, and in our enduring security cooperation.

So thank you for hosting me, for hosting us, and thank you for this opportunity to interact with you.

FOREIGN MINISTER GUNNARSDÓTTIR: Thank you, dear Marco. And actually you saw - witnessed the Northern Lights yesterday. You told me.

SECRETARY RUBIO: I did. Which, as someone from Florida -

FOREIGN MINISTER GUNNARSDÓTTIR: Yeah. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RUBIO: - I didn't know if that was a UFO or what it was, but then I looked at it and I realized what it was pretty quickly. It was very special.

FOREIGN MINISTER GUNNARSDÓTTIR: Thank you, Marco. Who is going to conduct - yes, yeah.

MODERATOR: Thank you. And we'll take a few questions from the media now, starting with the Icelandic press. Mr. Hallgrímur Indridason from RUV, the Icelandic broadcasting service.

QUESTION: Thank you. The first question from RUV: In light of the deal that the U.S., Greenland, and Denmark made on Greenland defenses, which included buildup, like, in two more military bases in Greenland, are there any plans for the U.S. Government to have further buildup here in Iceland, whether these are its military base or more surveillance or anything of that sort? Are you increasing your presence in Iceland and -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.

QUESTION: And the second question from - on behalf of Radio Saga: Do you feel that Iceland poses a direct military threat from Russia? And if so, what makes Iceland vulnerable in that area?

And if I may add a short yes-or-no question, what is your position on NATO membership of Ukraine? Do you think Ukraine should be a member of NATO?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, just on your third point, there's no yes-or-no answer to that other than to say that Ukraine - right now, NATO membership, as you know, is not on the table as we speak, because there's obviously a consensus process that has to happen in order for that, a unanimity process that has to happen. Right now, we're simply focused, when it comes to Ukraine, on the ending of this conflict if that's possible. And it's unfortunate the amount of loss of life. We've been clear that if there's a role we can play in bringing that war to an end, we want to play a constructive role. We are obviously watching the trend lines there and seeing that's not the direction that it's headed right now.

On your first question which has to do - well, I forgot your first question because you guys, you're cheating. (Laughter.) You said it was one question and then you got three, so now I gotta write these down.

QUESTION: Military buildup.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, military build - well look, we'd never do anything without cooperating with officials here about what's available. I think there is a willingness to do more together. And what Iceland contributes really is infrastructure and technology and the ability to have surveillance and opportunity of domain awareness. And it wouldn't be anything new. I mean, it's already existed for a very long time. We obviously had an enduring presence here that ended in 2006, not because of anything that was going wrong but because we shifted forces to other parts of the world where we thought there was more crisis.

The reality of it is the world has changed over the last 20 years. Our focus has changed. There's a lot of focus on the Arctic. I think Iceland plays a very critical role in the defense of NATO writ large. I think Iceland and its location plays a critical role in the defense both of Europe but also of the homeland of the United States because of geography. So we would be open to having those conversations to see what more we can do together. I know there's interest in doing more together. And obviously, if there's opportunities that make sense for both countries, it's something we would pursue.

With regards to direct threats, look, at the end of the day I think we're all concerned about what's happening in the High North and in the Arctic region, both from irregular measures, covert measures that are happening, but also threats to undersea cables, threats to shipping lanes. We're all aware of it, which is why so much attention is being paid to the Arctic region. And it's something that we have to deal with collectively, not just alone unilaterally but in combination with our partners and allies, which is why we've been having these regular engagements with the Arctic 7 countries, and Iceland is a key component of that and a place where we've already had a history of cooperating on these matters in the past.

So yeah, I mean, there are direct threats, and those threats in the 21st century aren't just military threats. They're also economic and commercial threats that have implications on the national security of our respective countries.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Next we will go to Richard Crowley from The New York Times.

QUESTION: Thank you. Michael Crowley with -

MODERATOR: Michael, I'm sorry.

QUESTION: No problem - with The New York Times. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. My questions were going to be similar, so just keying off of what you were just asked.

SECRETARY RUBIO: All right, good, so you don't need your time for the same -

QUESTION: No such luck.

SECRETARY RUBIO: (Laughter.) All right, go ahead. What's your backup question?

QUESTION: Regarding Northern Viking, although there was U.S. participation for the first time in the history of those exercises, the U.S. did not participate with ships or airplanes, which I saw was noticed in regional coverage about those exercises. Is that significant? Do you want to explain why that might have been the case?

And last month, there was a diplomatic incident when the Iceland foreign ministry summoned the ambassador over a post by the President on social media which depicted a map showing several nations in the region colored in with American stars and stripes, including Canada, Greenland, and also Iceland. I wondered if you wanted to comment on the significance of that and anything you may have said in your trip here today.

And for the prime minister -

FOREIGN MINISTER GUNNARSDÓTTIR: Foreign.

QUESTION: - did you find the absence of American forces -

MODERATOR: Foreign minister.

QUESTION: Pardon me. Foreign Minister, do you find the absence of American forces in the Northern Viking exercises to be meaningful or worrisome at all? And do you have any comment that you want to make about the social media posting, and are you concerned that you could be facing a drama like the one that Greenland recently went through with President Trump as far as talk of American acquisition? Thank you, and my apology for misstating your title. Thank you.

SECRETARY RUBIO: That's an unforgivable error. I mean, I don't even know if I should answer your question after doing that. (Laughter.)

Look, on the second point, we're not talking about social media posts. I'm here - we're here - meeting with a country we work very closely together on, and we do a lot of things together and everything is very positive in our relationship.

So on the first point about ships and airplanes, look, obviously there's things going on around the world. That's not a mystery to anyone. It requires us to allocate resources. And sometimes when you are involved, whether it's in protecting shipping lanes like we've had to do in the - because of this terrorist regime in Iran targeting commercial shipping lanes, or the defense of airspace, or the need to backfill what's happening in the Indo-Pacific as a result of this shift of forces - anytime you have active activities going on in the world, you have to move your assets to that, and sometimes they're not available for exercises.

So it's - I don't think that's an enduring decision. I think just one that, from the timing standpoint of when it happened, and it overlayed with existing operations around the world. So - but I don't think that's enduring. We still had people present. We're still committed to it. And as I said, I'm visiting here today because this place matters both economically but also from a defense standpoint.

FOREIGN MINISTER GUNNARSDÓTTIR: Yeah, actually, I have nothing to add to this. He explained - Marco explained very eloquently during our meeting why they needed the forces elsewhere. And I want to underline our really strong cooperation in terms of defense and security, and there is no change in that - what that matters.

What matters about the tweet or the posting from Mr. President, from President Trump, we discussed that, and I mean we have already dealt with that constructively. And we are actually - and yes, you are right, I summoned the ambassador. We were very open about this because we have a very good relationship with the U.S., and we want to continue to build on that relationship.

So that's why we remain now focused on the future, on the strong and positive relationship between our two countries. And we are looking forward, not backwards.

MODERATOR: Next we'll go to Andres Magnusson from the Icelandic Morgunbladid.

QUESTION: Yeah. And Mr. Secretary, I'm also asking on behalf of Visir. But this summer, the U.S. asked Iceland, sent actually a questionnaire, about support for U.S. foreign policy priorities. How do you view the Iceland response? And also, in light of how warmly you speak of Icelandic-U.S. relations, where do you think there is space to deepen the relationship? Where could it be strengthened? And if I might add, is the U.S. willing to explore a free trade agreement with Iceland?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, a couple points. On - about questionnaires and things like that, we're always probing to see where we stand in comparison to what our priorities are and where that is of other countries. You're never going to have a hundred percent on every issue, but that's okay. But I would say our alignment with Iceland is generally very concrete. I mean, I think we share the same perspectives of the world. I think we share a lot in common. We have a shared history, which brings us to the conclusion that we identify the same things as threats and the same things as opportunities. And so that's the way that I view that.

And so in the context of that - what was the second part of your question? Because I need to start writing these things down. These guys come with three-part questions. And - go ahead, I'm sorry.

QUESTION: Well, the second part was about - you spoke warmly of (inaudible), where do you think -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, places to grow. Yeah, so I think -

QUESTION: Yeah. And the free trade agreement.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, look - and the free trade agreement. That one I wrote. That one I did write down.

So on places where we can grow, I think I've highlighted some of those for you already today. Look, security is always important, right? Security underpins everything else. If you're not secure, you can't be prosperous. So I think there's no doubt that - but we're not starting from zero here. We have a history of security cooperation. What has changed is the world and the threats. What the threats looked like 20 years ago, 30 years ago are different than what they would look like today, so we have to modernize.

But we already have a baseline and a foundation of cooperation that extends all the way back for 75 years, so we're not building something new here. We're simply modernizing it. So there's no doubt that on the security realm there's very - ability to cooperate and continue to cooperate, and not just with the United States but with all of our NATO Allies, particularly those in the High North and that are involved in Arctic defense.

And - but beyond that, I think the economic opportunities are very real. You have very unique companies here that do some very unique things in the pharmaceutical realm, in biotechnology, in a variety of fields that we think there are real opportunities for them to do business in the United States. And likewise, I think there are some business opportunities potentially here that we'd like to present to American investors, which is why what we'd like to do as a follow-up, as a concrete follow-up to my visit here, is organize visits of American businesses here to identify those opportunities and see if there's some synergy, and likewise invite companies from Iceland to come to the United States and find sectors and areas where they could also invest in our economy or find markets. So I think that's very positive.

As far as free trade agreements are concerned, look, I think the era of free trade agreements for the foreseeable future is probably not going to be there. I mean not with Iceland but just in general writ large. Where I do think we have real opportunities is a bilateral trade agreement - bilateral trade, a reciprocal trade understanding between our countries. And it's my understanding that meetings to try to pursue and further that are being organized as already pre-existing to my visit, and hopefully those will be very positive.

And that ties in perfectly to my previous answer to you, which is there are companies here to do very unique things that we would like to see in the United States, and there are companies in the United States that I think could find some real positive economic opportunities to invest and be a part of here. And we just want to - we want to use the government, our embassy, our presence here, your embassy in the United States, to connect and create that synergy. And we will both benefit from it. You'll become more prosperous, we'll become more prosperous, and I think it will only bind us together more closely.

MODERATOR: Thank you. And lastly we will go to Shannon Kingston from ABC News.

QUESTION: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, Madam Foreign Minister. A question on - the State Department has assessed that Russia maintains an active offensive bioweapons program. There are also reports now that the FSB is involved in a forceful response to the recent fatal suspected plague death in Siberia. My question for you is - for you both is: Do you see any reason to suspect that what we're seeing now might be the accidental release of an intentionally modified strain of the plague that was altered by Russia? What is your level of concern?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well look, first of all, anytime you hear that there is some disease that infected someone in a lab anywhere in the world, you're going to be concerned about it, especially given recent events not so long ago, obviously, in 2021 and 2020 when we saw that happen.

That said, it would be irresponsible for me here to sit and speculate because we just don't have all the information yet. I think it's incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world. That's what they should do. That's what we hope they will do. And the more we can learn about what happened, then the better all of us can be in a position of responding. And maybe there's nothing there. Maybe it's bigger than we thought. We don't know.

But I think it would be reckless at this moment given the limited information we still have to speculate about what this might or might not be or what this is or what this isn't. Suffice it to say we're watching it very closely, and I think the whole world is watching it very closely, because depending on what we learn about it, we would know how to respond. We already have measures in place to be able to address it if it's something more serious than what so far has been acknowledged.

Suffice it to say we're glad to be aware of it. We're watching it very closely hour by hour. We have multiple agencies not just in the United States but internationally that are watching it. We encourage Russia to be transparent and share more information with the world so that all of us could react accordingly and appropriately, but we'll have to make those decisions on the basis of the information that we're learning and are being provided. And so far that's still quite limited, but hopefully that will change in the next few hours and days.

MODERATOR: And with that we conclude this press conference. Thank you very much.

FOREIGN MINISTER GUNNARSDÓTTIR: Thank you.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you.

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