With transcript below the text started at the 34th minute.
Bloggers note: I laugh when I herd them say" china is getting closer to NATO countries and that is wearisome for NATO countries ....totally discounting how Russia is concerned for it own security...
Russia offered to have UKRAINE as a non military zone or de- militarized ...but that was refused ....and NATO keeps BULLYING Russia into a corner ,...since the Warsaw Pact ended .....
Everyday I am discussed by the USAs policies using NATO and Ukraine to eliminate Russia ..and endangering Europe and all the Americas,North and South into the fray....
....
Jan 17, 2024 DAVOS Remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during panel discussion at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday 16 January 2024. Plenary Session: "Securing An Insecure World" 🎤 Børge Brende, President World Economic Forum 🗣️ German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock 🗣️ Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud 🗣️ US Senator Chris Coons 🗣️ Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar 🗣️ Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen 🗣️ NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg participated in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday (16 January 2024), underlining the importance of continued support to Ukraine. While acknowledging that the battlefield situation is “extremely difficult”, with the Russians “now pushing on many frontlines”, Mr Stoltenberg underlined that “there is also cause for optimism”. He pointed to Ukraine’s impressive achievements in liberating territory; opening a corridor for grain export in the Black Sea; and overall its survival as a sovereign, independent nation. Conversely, he said that “Russia has lost what they wanted to achieve with the war, and that was to control Ukraine”; Ukrainians are now firmly oriented to the West, aspiring for membership in NATO and the European Union. The Secretary General also stressed that “support for Ukraine is not charity; it’s an investment in our own security”. Pointing to the increasingly global nature of security, Mr Stoltenberg noted that close NATO partners Japan and South Korea are also concerned about Russia’s war against Ukraine, as a victory for President Putin would increase the likelihood of Beijing using force elsewhere. The Secretary General spoke at a panel on “Securing an Insecure World” alongside Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, and US Senator Chris Coons. The discussion was moderated by the President of the World Economic Forum, Børge Brende. Earlier in the day, the Secretary General participated in a dialogue between political leaders, CEOs and other officials to discuss the role of the global private and public sectors in Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction, alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. While in Davos, the Secretary General will also address a closed-door session of the International Business Council. He is also holding meetings with a number of world leaders, including President Zelenskyy, Polish President Andrzei Duda, Swiss President Viola Amherd, and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.
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that was the first time I I I've heard so uh I think NATO is of course first
and foremost transatlantic Treaty Organization looking uh at uh defending
its uh member countries but I think you also have enlarged um also uh the things
that you do address and Hope how do you how do you react to What SRA said about
uh us relationship with China and how do you think the West should should deal
with China so first of all you are right that NATO is a trans Atlantic Alliance Europe
and North America and we will remain a regional Alliance uh but the transatlantic region uh faces Global
threats uh security is not longer Regional security is global so what happens in na matters for Europe and
what happens in Europe matters for Asia and therefore of course we don't regard China as an adversary but well but
China's uh heavy investments in modern military capabilities including more and
more advanced nuclear weapons um uh China's um way of behavior especially in
the South China uh sea um and the way China is actually violating core
principles for NATO democracy the rule of law uh uh journalism freedom of of
expression as we have seen in Hong Kong all of that matters for NATO and uh we
also have to understand that this is not about NATO moving into Asia but it's the about the fact that China is coming
closer to us we see them Africa we see them in the Arctic we see them trying to control critical infrastructure not so
many years ago we had a big discussion about 5G and and and many allies said this is only commercial issue no it's
it's also a issue about our security so they therefore for all these reasons of
course NATO has to address what happens uh in Asia uh not because we are Global
Security Alliance but because what happens there matters for us and vice versa I visited Japan and South Korea
close partners of of NATO they are concerned about what happens in Ukraine
because they know that the more success Putin has in Ukraine the more likely it is that Beijing will use Force so we
have to have a Global approach even though we are Regional countries uh Regional or organizations the world is
interconnected and of course NATO has taken the consequence of that thank you we were at a session together this
morning with uh president uh sininsky are the
ukrainians um winning or would you say not losing the war in
Ukraine the the situation on the battlefield is extremely difficult uh the the Russians are now push pushing uh
on many front lines um and uh uh and of course the big offensive that the
ukrainians launched last summer didn't uh uh give give the results we all hop
for and we see how Russia is now building up how they are acquiring drones from uh Iran actually building
their own drone uh uh Factory to produce their own drones in pastan U with help
from Iran how they get ammunition and ballistic missiles from North Korea and
they have also demonstrated a high tolerance for casualties so overall Russia is is is pushing hard and this is
serious and and we should not underestimate we should never underestimate Russia having said that I
really believe that there are that there is also cause for optimism first of all we have to remember where we started
when these wars started with the full-fledged Invasion uh back in uh 2022
then most experts believed that Russia was going to take Kia within days and control Ukraine within weeks that didn't
happen the opposite happened the the the the ukrainians pushed back they liberated the north east and the South
hon um uh uh they have made big uh military victories in the Black Sea open
up a corridor so now they're actually able to export grain and and all stuff through the Black Sea and we have seen
how they've been able to hit both uh uh the Russian Air Force and the Russian Navy these are Big military victories
for uh Ukraine the most important thing is that Ukraine has survived as a
sovereign independent nation um which is a big win for them and Russia is losing
meaning that Russia has lost uh what they wanted to achieve with the war and that was to control Ukraine Ukraine the
people of Ukraine have never trusted Russia less than they do today and they want to be part of the west of the
European Union and NATO and they're closer to us than ever before and this is a big loss for Russia we have to
support them and I'm also quite confident that NATO allies will continue to provide support because uh uh support
for Ukraine is not charity support for Ukraine is investment in our own security and therefore allies have
provided unprecedented support now we are ramping up production uh there was just an agreement now to acquire uh
close to thousand new interceptors for the Patriot batteries one example of how allies are stepping up to refill their
own stocks but also be able to support Ukraine in the future so so uh we just
have to stand by Ukraine and some stage Russia will understand that they are paying a too high price and sit down and
agree to some kind of just piece but we need to stand by Ukraine thank you you're also a Secretary General of NATO
you're on top of all the juicy intelligence uh we heard this morning
that Russia has lost like more than 200 soldiers half of their tanks uh in uh
you 300,000 say that again 300,000 300,000 yeah so uh and half of their
tanks uh and it of course also having severe impact uh on their economy it's
it's it said in the morning is a war economy so you can then uh use the traditional uh measures but with what
you're hearing uh also uh as Secretary General of NATO are there Russians
aware you think that this war did not go as planned and are aware of all the
casualties and uh you know for a nation that has lost half of their tanks and 300,000 soldiers that's that's not the
minor thing is is there something happening in Russia or is it just
not I'm very careful predicting about both how the war will develop uh Wars
are by Nature unpredictable and I'm even more careful about predicting what will happen inside
Russia we saw pring last year surprises may happen but but we don't have any
indications or any big change inside Russia but of course there can be surprises again I think what really
matters is is what we do uh and uh and and we just to have to do whatever we
can to increase the price for Russia and of course when they had lost 300,000 soldiers casualties uh thousands of
armed Vehicles hundreds of planes this is something that that that matters for
Russia and for ordinary Russians uh their economy is struggling uh they are
paying a high economic price they are paying a high political price they're more politically isolated all in the
near Broad in Caucasus and and Central Asia uh and uh and and so what we can do
is is not to predict with certainty what will happen but what we can do is to just maximize the likelihood that at
some stage President Putin will understand that to continue this war will have a too high high price and then
at some stage she has to sit down and negotiate some kind of a just lasting peace where Ukraine prevails as a
sovereign independent nation uh and the Paradox is that if we want that to happen a
peaceful just end to this war the way together are more or is more weapons to
to Ukraine so the more credible we are in our Military Support the more likely it is that the diplomats will succeed
because what what what what happens around the negotiating table with diplomats is is so closely linked to the
situation on the battlefield there are no indications that Putin is planning for peace now but he will when he
realize that he that we will not give up that we have the military strength to support Ukraine and then he will sit
down and the diplomats can take over thank you Yan uh in the morning meeting someone also said that uh Putin is the
father of the modern uh Ukraine but um Minister uh Elena walon and of Finland I
guess Finland would not have become a NATO member if it wasn't for Putin's war
on on Ukraine yeah probably not uh we never kind of saw the need for that even
though well personally I have been in favor of that for for decades but not all of us fins and we we thought that we
would be able to defend ourselves and deter Russia based on our own Defense
Forces um but I have to say um I mean in this narrative and perhaps also what uh
my colleague from Nigeria referred to I'm not hugely proud of the Finnish
piece of history of the Finland finlandization and that's got nothing to do with diplomacy it was enforced on us
I mean living next to a huge neighbor who is not only unpredictable but very
aggressive and we've had had our past where we have had to um defend our
country against the aggression and The Invasion from from back then Soviet Union luckily we were able to remain
independent never never were part of the Soviet Union but those few decades where
we really had to you know constrain our sovereignty in order to remain
independent that's not based on the UN chter right I mean every Sovereign
Nation has the right to decide on the M themselves or more precisely those people living in those democracies they
have the right and that is exactly that the ukrainians are now fighting for because they decided more than 10 years
ago the Ukrainian people they want to have a European future they want to have
a future where each individual counts they can decide on their own future and
that's why we need to assist them because nobody wants to have nobody wants to have a world where only the
strongest the most powerful are to decide and I'm I'm sure that applies to
Nigeria just as much as it applies to to um the five million people of Finland and only just finally NATO does not
enlarge by force it is the Free People in democratic nations who choose to join
and that goes for Finland and Sweden just like anybody else and we didn't join because we wanted to threaten
Russia come on 5 million fins threat in Russia come on it's never happened in
the future don't believe that narrative we are there in order to protect our values and uh stand up for the UN
Charter you you just told me that you had to close the border again uh towards uh Russia for another month that's right
um well yeah um we've experienced especially after the summer some uh
increasing let say harassment from from Russia so now there's this um hybrid
operation going on where where Russia has not only let uh Third Country citizens uh enter Finland cross our
border without valid documentation uh but they have also been uh or we have evidence that they are
actively mobilizing those people uh also direct from their or original um
countries and that's obviously not something we can accept it's part of our sovereignty and territorial integrity
and plus Finland is obviously not only protecting its own border but also that of the EU and NATO um many of of those
uh people who have um entered our country uh well are criminals so have
even war criminal records uh and uh some of them many of them stay in Finland
they have all of them seek Asylum but many also continue uh on to towards the rest of the shenen area and of course we
can't have that happen time is out but Minister tar I think you wanted a short
reply um I would have loved to continue another half an hour but I learned though uh in my political past that you
should always end when people still want you to continue I'm not sure all
politicians stick to that but Minister tuer and then we'll I'll do a very very
short closing yeah so real quickly not a reply just a reaction
um I spoke about finlandization within the context of a bipolar world and uh
ways to avert conflict and in this case nuclear Annihilation so um perhaps that
was the price that we had to pay it was regrettable but uh the point I was
trying to make was the need for there to be neutral ground for diplomats for
countries to engage with each other to avert conflict so but um I couldn't
agree more uh with the minister with regards to um freedom of uh of of of of
uh self-determination because what you described could apply exactly uh to
Palestine they have the right they have the right to you know self-determination
the same way that Finland so we could but I don't want us to keep on you know nit picking and picking and choosing uh
which conflicts to highlight uh what is important is also that we pay close attention to um
uh proxy uh um Wars and and and actions
and and the use of of of proxies to forment conflict in in in in third party
Nations so this is something that is happening that we see uh increasingly and unless the diplomats engage with
each other you cannot diffuse such tensions but we need to roll that back as quickly as possible no thank thank
you very much uh Minister I I feel uh extremely privileged to have had the chance to moderate uh social panel uh
great uh leaders in their uh different fields uh the title was as I said the
beginning securing and insecure world I think we took a small step forward in at
least establishing some potential pillars for what a more secure world
could be and to you uh Minister from Nigeria also on the diplomacy I think we
need more diplomacy and not less diplomacy and both in uh Gaza uh Ukraine
uh us uh China north south east west it doesn't hurt to talk it doesn't hurt to
have a dialogue and that is what we're trying also here in Davos I'm being asked three times this morning about
people that are invited to dils why did they invite her why did we invite him we don't agree with them exactly that's why
they're here because we can have a dialogue if you only then deal with the people you agree with it then there will
be conflicts there will be no further understanding and of course that's part of the whole disinformation agenda if
you look at something the algorithms just make sure that you look even more at something that is even more extreme
than you look at maybe it wasn't extreme at all but it was a little bit edgy so
thank you very much to the panel uh really appreciate it thank you give them a big
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