Secretary Antony J. Blinken and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte Before Their Meeting

SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE: Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to host the - Tony, my dear friend, Tony, here today, the U.S. Secretary of State, again in NATO. And over the last four years, you have been in many NATO meetings. I really want to thank you for that. You have been a staunch Ally, and people like you very much and the fact that you are listening in, participating in the meetings, and that the U.S., in that sense, is really providing the leadership necessary. And we still need it.

There are two big issues we will discuss today and tomorrow. Today, you were very much focused tonight on Ukraine. We know that the situation on the battlefield is difficult, and we have to do everything we can to get more military aid into Ukraine. And I want to thank you, the U.S., but also Sweden and the UK and Estonia and Norway and Germany, for making announcement the last couple of days again of extra military aid going into Ukraine. This is quite crucial, particularly now that winter is coming, and we know the situation with the energy infrastructure in Ukraine.

Tomorrow, we will discuss amongst the 32 the issue of the increasing Russian aggression against NATO Allies and how to counter that. And this is a very important subject we will spend a lot of time on tomorrow morning. And also here your leadership is highly valued.

So again, thank you for being here. But particularly thank you for being here for the last four years. We wish you the best after January, but we need you till the 20th of January every day, and we know we can count to you. Again, thank you.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Mark, thank you very much. And like it or not, you've got me and you've got us till the 20th of January every minute, every day. We're determined to keep moving forward on the work we've been doing together over the last four years, work that has strengthened this Alliance in extraordinary ways - with new members, new resources and assets, and, I think, a new determination, both to continue to stand with Ukraine faced with the Russian aggression but also to deal with a myriad of other threats and challenges that brings us together in the world's greatest defensive Alliance.

We share the concern that Mark expressed for Ukraine in this ongoing aggression, but that only reinforces our determination to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to deal with what it's facing on the battlefield, also to deal with the ongoing onslaught on its energy infrastructure, with, once again, Putin weaponizing winter, trying to freeze people out of their homes, turn out the lights. We're not going to let that happen. We're determined on that front as well.

But we have a broad range of other challenges that we have to look at. We'll be doing that over the next couple of days. This is a vital moment, I think, for the Alliance to make sure that we're level set for the year ahead.

And I'll just say, in conclusion, this - and I've said it before - I think what people need to remain focused on is this: The reason so many countries are invested in this Alliance, the reason that new countries - Finland and Sweden - have joined the Alliance, the reason the Alliance is stronger than ever is because we all know it's the best guarantee against war, the best means to prevent conflict, the best means to ensure our collective security.

And that's because in joining NATO, every Ally takes a pledge that an attack on one is an attack on all. And that means that any would-be aggressor knows that if they take on one NATO country, they have to take on all of them, and that is the best way to deter aggression in the first place. And that's why I think you see a stronger Alliance, a bigger Alliance, a determined Alliance, and we'll continue to reaffirm that today and tomorrow.

Thank you, Mark.