(5 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brussels – 5 June 2025
++EDIT IS ALL ONE SHOT++
1. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker walk up to microphones
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of Defense:
"Good morning. It’s very good to be here with Ambassador Whitaker. I thought his remarks, statements, everything yesterday were spot on. So thank you for, for representing the United States. And I don’t think anybody has done more to advance the cause of strengthening NATO than President Trump. And he started it in his first term, calling for 2%, calling for investment in this alliance. You got to be to be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences. You need to be, combat ready capabilities. So we’re here to continue the work that President Trump started, which is a commitment to 5% defense spending across this alliance, which we think will happen, which I think has to happen by the summit at The Hague later this month. So that’s our focus. 5%.
Combat credible and capable forces and then making sure NATO is focused on its core mission, continental defense, where its comparative advantage exists. So we look forward to talking to counterparts today and, and advancing American interests, but also the interests of the continent. Any thoughts?"
(Whitaker: "Nope. I’m just so glad you’re here, and welcome to NATO.")
Hegseth: "It’s great to be here. Thank you."
3. Hegseth and Whitaker walk away from microphones
STORYLINE:
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrived at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday for a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
Hegseth made a brief statement to reporters, saying the alliance needs to focus on military readiness.
"To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences. You need to be combat ready capabilities," he said.
On Wednesday, Senior officials from nearly 50 nations gathered, with the Pentagon’s chief absent for the first time since the group organizing the military aid for Ukraine was set up three years ago.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at NATO headquarters is going to be chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth only planned to arrive in Brussels after it’s over.
His absence is the latest in a series of steps Washington has taken to distance itself from Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began Feb. 24, 2022.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, the U.K. said it plans a tenfold increase in drone production to help Ukraine. Drones have become a decisive factor in the war.
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