well good afternoon friends uh thank you secretary Healey uh for your leadership both in hosting and now leading uh the ud CG this is my first Ukraine defense contact group and I'm honored to join all of you today and I appreciate the opportunity to share president Trump's approach to the war in Ukraine we are at as you said Mr secretary a critical moment as the war approaches its third anniversary our message is clear the Bloodshed must stop and this war must end president Trump has been clear with the American people and with many of your
leaders that stopping the fighting and reaching an enduring peace is a top priority he intends to end this war by diplomacy and bringing both Russia and Ukraine to the table and that US Department of Defense will help achieve this goal we will only end this devastating war and establish a durable Peace by coupling Allied strength with a realistic assessment of the battlefield we want like you a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine but we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine's pre-24 border ERS is an unrealistic objective chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war
and cause more suffering a durable peace for Ukraine must include robust security guarantees to ensure that the war will not begin again this must not be Minsk 3.0 that said the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement instead any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-european troops if these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point they should be deployed as part of a non-nato mission and they should not be covered under Article 5 there also must be robust International
oversight of the line of contact to be clear as part of any security guarantee there will not be US troops deployed to Ukraine to further enable effective diplomacy and drive down Energy prices that fund the Russian war machine president Trump is unleashing American energy production and encouraging other nations to do the same lower energy prices coupled with more effective enforcement of energy sanctions will help bring Russia to the table safeguarding European security must be an imperative for European members of NATO as part of this Europe must provide the overwhelming share of future lethal and non-lethal
Aid to Ukraine members of this contact group must meet the moment this means donating more ammunition and Equipment leveraging comparative advantages expanding your defense industrial base and importantly leveling with your citizens about the threat facing Europe part of this is speaking frankly with your people about how this threat can only be met by spending more on defense 2% is not enough president Trump has called for 5% and I agree increasing your commitment to your own security is a down payment for the future a down payment as you said Mr Secretary of peace through strength we're
also here today to directly and unambiguously express that Stark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the security of Europe the United States faces consequential threats to our homeland we must and we are focusing on security of our own borders we also face a peer competitor in the Communist Chinese with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the indopacific the US is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific recognizing the reality of scarcity and making the resourcing trade-offs to ensure deterrence does not
fail deterrence cannot fail for all all of our sakes as the United States prioritizes its attention to these threats European allies must lead from the front together we can establish a division of labor that maximizes our comparative advantages in Europe and Pacific respectively in my first weeks as Secretary of Defense under President Trump's leadership we've seen promising signs that Europe sees this threat understands what needs to be done and is stepping up to the task for example Sweden recently announced its largest ever assistance package we applaud them for committing 1.2 billion in ammunition and other
needed material Poland is spending 5% of GDP on defense already which is a model for the continent and 14 other countries are co-leading capability coalitions these groups are doing great work to coordinate Europe's contributions of legal assistance across eight key cap capability areas these are first steps more must still be done we ask each of your countries to step up on fulfilling the commitments that you have made and we challenge your countries and your citizens to double down and recommit yourselves not only to Ukraine's immediate security needs but to Europe's long-term defense and deterrence goals
our train trans Atlantic Alliance has endured for decades and we fully expect that it will be sustained for generations to come but this won't just happen it will require our European allies to step into the arena and take ownership of conventional Security on the continent the United States remains committed to the NATO alliance and to the defense partnership with Europe full stop but the United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encour which encourages dependency rather our relationship will prioritize empowering Europe to own responsibility for its own security Honesty will be our policy
going forward but only in the spirit of of solidarity president Trump looks forward to working together to continuing this Frank discussion amongst friends and to achieve peace through strength together thank you
