SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Mr. Minister, buongiorno. It's a real pleasure to welcome you back to the Pentagon, and it's great to see you again. We -- we were just together last week in bluff -- in Brussels for our NATO Defense Ministerial, and -- and also, a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
It goes without saying that Italy is a valued ally in Europe's southern flank and a gracious host to U.S. forces, and I want to thank you for being a gracious host to our forces. I'm very proud of our long-standing bilateral defense relationship. We absolutely appreciate Italy's robust contributions to missions by NATO, the European Union and the United Nations, and your extensive out-of-area deployments.
Italian forces are now serving in the Balkans, in the Baltics, the Arctic, on NATO's eastern flank, in the Middle East, in and around Africa and in the Indo-Pacific, and we greatly appreciate your willingness, Mr. Minister, to assume command and lead many of those missions that I just mentioned. That's a testament to Italy's leadership to advance security all around the world.
So we're meeting at a crucial time for European security. The European peep -- excuse me -- the Ukrainian people continue to fight back bravely against Russia's unprovoked and cruel invasion, and Mr. Minister, let me thank you for all of your assistance to -- to Ukraine. Italy is providing critical capabilities to help meet Ukraine's most urgent security needs, and you're also supporting our other allies to help them -- help them make their own contributions to Ukraine's self-defense.
So we've got a lot to talk about today, Mr. Minister. We're delighted to have you, and my staff is fascinated by the fact that you actually make me look like a small man.
(Laughter.)
DEFENSE MINISTER GUIDO CROSETTO (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you, Mr. Minister. Thank you for your hospitality today. For me and for Italy, this is a very, very important moment, very, very important meeting. Even if we have met many times in Europe, both at NATO meetings and at meetings for the Ukraine Defense Group, but it is also very important to have these bilateral meetings in order to be able to talk calmly and securely about work we intend to do for the future of security.
As you have just said, Mr. Minister, the cooperation relationship between Italy and the United States, it's long -- it's long-standing and is a special, friendly relationship that binds us together. And we are glad, and we are honored, and we thank you for having the possibility to host so many American soldiers for now more than 70 years. This is a real honor for Italy.
And as part of our history, we also have so many war cemeteries in Ital -- in Italy which host American fallen. And this is a reminder of the role played by the United States to help us in our fight for democracy and for liberty, and this is the reason why I was really honored to visit Arlington before coming to meet you, and I must say, I was really moved much more than I had expected.
And going back to the opening of this meeting, as you recall, we have cooperated in many parts of the world. And Italian soldiers and Italian officers have worked side-by-side with American soldiers all around the world, in Afghanistan, in Europe, in Balkans, in Africa -- wherever NATO or other international organizations ask us to deliver a presence. And also, in this last occasion with this war that developed in Europe, Italy has never hesitated, not even for a second, to decide which was the side that we would support, and we have gone -- have done all we could do to help the Ukrainian people.
And I'm glad that at the end of this session with the press, we would be able to discuss our common interests. But I must tell you that my wife saw our photo and she asked me, "So who is the biggest one?"
(Laughter.)
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(Laughter.)
SEC. AUSTIN: I understood that part, so yeah.
(Laughter.)
SEC. AUSTIN: Well, Mr. Minister, it's -- it's an absolute treat to have you here. I look forward to a great discussion, and so -- so thanks for making the trip. You're a great partner.
And so with that, we'll go ahead and start our meeting. Thanks, everybody.