WEBVTT

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So dear members of the press , we are

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now ready for the press conference .

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The working language for this press

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conference is english . We will start

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with the opening remarks first from the

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estonian Minister of Defense uh Mr

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And then followed by United

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States Secretary of Defense Mr Lloyd

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Austin . After that one estonian and

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one U . S . Media outlet will have an

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opportunity to ask one question

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from each minister . Uh There will be

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no opportunity for one on one

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interviews at the end of this brief

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after the press conference , we kindly

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ask you to remain in this room until

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both ministers have left left the

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building . But now we will start with

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the press conference first with a

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statement from Ministry of Defense of

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Estonia Mr . Please thank you very

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much . Uh journalist there , Lloyd .

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It seems that in this week I've seen

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you more than than my wife . So

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so but I hope that my wife will

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understand the situation we are living

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in and this is exactly why we need to

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meet so often . Uh So ladies and

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gentlemen , it is a pleasure to welcome

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uh United States uh

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Defense Secretary here in Estonia with

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his delegation and of course we are

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more than happy to uh to

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uh welcome everyone

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who are coming here today

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Lloyd's visit is a testament to the

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close cooperation and strategic

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partnership what we have between our

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countries . But the timing is also very

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very significant . Next week Estonia

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will celebrate its Independence day .

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We must not forget that it is thanks to

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the committed allies like the United

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States , that small countries like

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Estonia can even flourish as

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independent sovereign states .

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Our security continues to be guaranteed

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by our membership in NATO , the

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most powerful alliance in history .

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Last year at the native Madrid summit ,

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Allies made historic decisions to make

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the alliance even stronger allies

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committed to establishing a credible

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forward defense posture on NATO's

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eastern flank in order to ensure that

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every inch of allied territory is

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defendant . Without delay .

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As part of this commitment , president

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Biden announced the decision to enhance

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the US rotational presence in the

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Baltic states , call that

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promise delivered a US high marks

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platoon and an infantry company are now

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training side by side with estonian

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defense forces , increasing

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interoperability and strengthening the

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security of Estonia and NATO .

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However , since Russia has not given up

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its imperial ambitions and continues to

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pose the biggest and most direct threat

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to allied security , Estonia expects to

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see more rapid progress in the upcoming

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wilderness Summit . 24

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February will also be the day that we

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mark . One year since Russia's full

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scale brutal war and invasion of

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Ukraine , I'm glad that Estonia and the

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United States shared the determination

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for Ukraine to win this war against the

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aggressor to expel Russian forces and

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its proxies from Ukraine and restore

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Ukraine's territorial integrity ,

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Ukraine has shown incredible courage in

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defending its people territory and our

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common values . And while we

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know that freedom will always triumph

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over tyranny . Russia's war in Ukraine

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is a stark remember that freedom is

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never free . That is why the

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United States and Estonia are among the

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biggest providers of military aid to

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Ukraine . The United States in

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particular has demonstrated outstanding

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leadership and strategy foresight .

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Since the very beginning , D Lloyd , I

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would like to thank you also personally

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for that with the United States is the

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biggest contributor in absolute terms ,

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Estonia is in relative terms .

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As a result of the talent pledge

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commitment , Estonia's military

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assistance to Ukraine recently exceeded

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1% of our GDP . Still

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we can and must do more . I

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have three key proposals as to

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how first All European

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partners and NATO allies must spend

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more than 2% ideally closer to

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2.5% of their GDP on defense

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more can only be given when there is

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more to give . Second ,

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The International Coalition should

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reach at least €100 billion

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2023 ,

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We can talk about how substance also

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matters , but trust me , there is at

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least 100 billion worth

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of things Ukraine needs already at this

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moment . Third ,

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The European Union should urgently

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support the Ukrainian defense with one

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million artillery rounds . A proposal

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recently put forward by estonian

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at the same time , Estonia will

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continue to accelerate the development

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of its own national defense .

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The new Estonian National Security

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Strategy Foresees a new standard of at

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least 3% of GDP for defense ,

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host nation support to allies is

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planned to come on top of this , we

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will continue upgrade allied

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infrastructure and expand training

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opportunities to support us and other

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allied deployments to Estonia because

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we recognize that it is best to do

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practice defending in Estonia in

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Estonia last but not least . I'm

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grateful to the U . S . And also to

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Secretary Austin for the substantial

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financial aid that the United States

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has provided to Estonia . It has been

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vital to the acceleration of our

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capability development . With that said ,

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I passed the word to Secretary Austin

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Deloitte , please . The floor is yours

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Well , good afternoon everyone . And mr

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pecker uh thanks for hosting me in this

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beautiful city . It's my first visit to

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Tallinn as as a Secretary of Defense

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and I'm grateful for your warm welcome ,

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especially in this february weather .

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I was delighted to be able to host you

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in Washington last year and I'm glad

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that today we could continue our

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dialogue on bilateral defense

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partnership and regional security . I

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was also delighted to have the chance

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to meet earlier today with Prime

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Minister callous So

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I want to make one thing very clear to

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the estonian people today . The

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United States remains steadfastly

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committed to the freedom and

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sovereignty of our Baltic allies

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and we stand united with you to deter

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and defend against any threat to our

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shared security .

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Now I'm visiting at a critical time for

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europe and for the world ,

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as minister stated earlier next week .

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will mark a year since Russia launched

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its full scale invasion of its peaceful

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neighbor , Ukraine and we mourn the

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lives lost so needlessly

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in Putin's cruel and unprovoked war of

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choice . As the Ukrainian

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people fight so bravely to defend their

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sovereignty . They remind us that

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we can never take freedom for granted .

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Now , Estonians understand that very

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well and Estonians ,

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I know how important it is for all

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countries to stand up for a free

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and sovereign Ukraine , you've

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experienced the Kremlin's aggression

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firsthand and you've shown

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tremendous leadership in supporting

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Ukraine today as a share of

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your economic size . Estonia has

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provided more military aid to Ukraine

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than any other country in the world .

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You've made hard decisions to get

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Ukrainians the assistance that they

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need to defend themselves . So thank

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you for your leadership . It is truly a

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shining example to all countries

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and Estonia's leadership reminds us

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that even small countries can make a

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big difference . Now ,

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Estonia is also making contributions

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further a field and I welcome Estonia's

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plans to increase its participation in

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operation , inherent resolve in Iraq .

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And Estonia continues to make critical

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investments in its own defense . Your

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strong defense spending and procurement

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of new capabilities are crucial

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in deterring attacks against NATO .

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The United States stands beside you as

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a friend and as an ally , you

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can see that commitment in our recent

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deployment of US forces in Estonia ,

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including the high mars multiple

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multiple launch rocket system in our

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infantry . Mr Minister we've just

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come from an important meeting of the

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Ukraine defense contact group and a

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successful NATO defense ministerial

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Putin thought that he could divide NATO

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but his aggression achieved just the

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opposite . The NATO alliance

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is more united and stronger than

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I've ever seen it . Now .

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We had a very highly productive

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discussion today on strengthening our

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collective defense in response to

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Russia's reckless assault on on Ukraine .

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NATO is strengthening , strengthening

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its deterrence and defense in the

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eastern part of the alliance . The

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United States is also enhancing its

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presence along the alliance's eastern

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flight and will maintain a persistent

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rotational presence in the Baltics . So

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I'm confident that our two proud

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democracies will work together to meet

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any challenge . And together we'll

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continue to strengthen transatlantic

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security and to defend the rules based

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international order that keeps us all

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safe . So thank you very much .

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And so now we'll take a couple of

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questions err please

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thank you johan estrella from estonian

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public broadcasting um question to

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um Secretary Austin . What should the U .

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S . And Estonia do together to further

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reduce the possibility of Russian

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aggression ? And should things go sour ?

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How can we be sure that U . S . Troops

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with will fight with Estonia from the

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very first moment . But I'm also

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curious why has it been difficult to

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say that Russia has to lose the war in

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Ukraine . And when do you see that

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happening ? So the first part of the

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question is what can we do together to

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deter aggression in the future ? I

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think the first thing that we can do is

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what we're already doing and that is

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working together along with allies and

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partners to provide Ukraine , uh the

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much needed security assistance that it

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requires to to be able to be successful

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in defending its sovereign territory .

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Now , we've seen them make good use of

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the capabilities that we provided to

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this point . They won the Battle of

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Kharkiv , they won the Battle of Kiev ,

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they won the Battle of Kherson .

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They've inflicted significant damage on

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on Russia's land for land forces and

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they've held their own in a in a very

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contested battle in the in the

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Donbass . And so this fight will

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continue to evolve and we will do

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everything we can working together to

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ensure that we're providing them the

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means to be successful . I think we've

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all been very , very impressed by what

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we've seen from the Ukrainian forces .

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Their leadership has held together .

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The forces have remained committed to

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uh to being successful in defending

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their sovereign territory . So that's

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the first part of the question . The

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second part of the question , I think

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was whether or not we would be here any

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event of an attack on on Estonia ,

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you know , I'll just point to the the

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uh what what our President President

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biden has said a number of times . And

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what I've also said , Our commitment to

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Article five is ironclad ? We take that

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very seriously ? And uh and we'll live

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up to uh , to our commitments ? Uh we

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also said , uh , you know , back at

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Madrid , our President made the

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decision to rotate forces in and out of

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the Baltics uh , on a on a consistent

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basis in a heel to toe fashion so that

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we had uh , you know , consistent

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presence . We've lived up to that and

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we'll continue to live up to it . And

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the final thing I would just point out

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to you is that prior to Russia's

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invasion and I met with your Minister

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of Defense and I told him that if

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Russia invaded Ukraine , we would

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deploy forces to uh to Estonia the next

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day . And we did . We

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were the first to be here , uh , and we

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met every word we said , and we'll live

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up to our commitments going forward .

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So we are committed to uh to Article

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five and you can you can you can bet on

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it . Do you want to add anything ?

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Well , I believe we can have time with

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you on it all the time . So I rather

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give the opportunity to do so we have

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time for one us question for both .

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Minister . Hi , Ellie Watson Cbs . Um

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first for Secretary Austin , you said

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yesterday , countries are working to

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move equipment like more armored

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vehicles into Ukraine , but much of it

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is not there yet . And the NATO

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Secretary General said the Russian

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offensive has already started . Do you

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believe the Russian offensive has begun ?

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And when when does the window close to

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get all of this equipment in in order

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to make a difference ? And for the

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minister , is it already too late for

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all of this equipment to get in in

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order to make a difference ahead of

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spring ? If Russia has not stopped in

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Ukraine this year , is Estonia next ?

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Well , thanks Ellie . Um , in terms of

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whether or not Russia has started its

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offensive , What we're seeing as you've

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heard me say before is Russia continue

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to introduce uh large numbers of troops

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into uh , into the theater . Those

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troops are ill equipped and ill train

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and because of that , they're incurring

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a lot of casualties . And we expect

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that that will continue . We've also

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seen them increase uh , their artillery

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fires in the box mood area and Bachmann

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has been a contested area for some time .

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We expect to see that that continue as

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well . In terms of whether or not we

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can get equipment there in a timely

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fashion . This is something that we're

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working on each and every day and so

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for the equipment that's coming into

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into theater , we'll bring it in well

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trained troops on that equipment and

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we're training troops by the way in a

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number of different places , for

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example , this is um , Sweden is

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providing CV ninety's , which is an

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armored personnel carrier ? They'll

18:29.750 --> 18:32.680
train troops on those on those vehicles

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in Sweden Germany is providing martyrs ,

18:35.230 --> 18:37.910
they're training uh , troops on the

18:37.910 --> 18:39.970
employment of the martyrs and also

18:39.980 --> 18:43.010
maneuver training in Germany were

18:43.010 --> 18:46.150
training troops on how to properly

18:46.150 --> 18:49.840
employ um , the Bradley infantry

18:49.840 --> 18:52.760
fighting vehicles and striker vehicles

18:52.770 --> 18:54.920
in Germany as well , but we're also

18:54.920 --> 18:57.740
training them on on maneuver and the

18:57.740 --> 19:00.490
integration of fire fires and combined

19:00.490 --> 19:03.890
arms training . So a number of things

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are coming together . We've really laid

19:07.790 --> 19:09.957
out a detailed plan on how we're gonna

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bring things in in support of Ukraine

19:12.570 --> 19:14.630
and provide them that that year . So

19:14.630 --> 19:17.040
this is a work in progress , but it's

19:17.040 --> 19:19.207
something that our leaders are working

19:19.207 --> 19:22.220
on very , very diligently and again ,

19:22.230 --> 19:26.220
uh , Ukraine Ukraine's fight , we're

19:26.220 --> 19:28.442
gonna provide them all the support that

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we can possibly provide them so that

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they can have the best chance of being

19:32.947 --> 19:35.113
successful in the upcoming offensive .

19:36.400 --> 19:38.400
Well , thank you very much for that

19:38.400 --> 19:40.400
question and definitely i it's very

19:40.400 --> 19:42.700
good to continue from , from where

19:42.700 --> 19:45.490
Lloyd just stopped that , this is

19:45.490 --> 19:47.546
exactly what we need to do , that we

19:47.546 --> 19:50.610
need to help Ukraine as long as , as as

19:50.610 --> 19:53.940
needed and and uh , for as much as

19:53.940 --> 19:57.040
needed . So uh , this is for first , uh ,

19:57.050 --> 19:59.272
secondly , you know , you asked , is it

19:59.272 --> 20:01.770
too late ? It's never too late when

20:01.770 --> 20:03.770
there is a hope and when there is a

20:03.770 --> 20:06.580
last man standing there is , there is a

20:06.580 --> 20:09.600
chance to win this war and as long

20:09.610 --> 20:12.620
we as international allies ,

20:12.620 --> 20:15.060
international partners of Ukraine can

20:15.070 --> 20:17.620
deliver them what they need . Then we

20:17.620 --> 20:20.940
see how courageous Ukrainians are .

20:20.950 --> 20:23.840
How big is the motivation of Ukrainians

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that they will never never give up of

20:26.670 --> 20:30.260
their land or of their country . So

20:30.260 --> 20:33.120
they will fight for their land for the

20:33.120 --> 20:35.660
people and they will fight as long

20:35.660 --> 20:38.330
their country is free again . So it's

20:38.330 --> 20:40.700
not too late and it will never be too

20:40.700 --> 20:44.370
late . That's the first uh

20:45.020 --> 20:48.440
next uh well for that , we are

20:48.440 --> 20:51.600
doing our maximum to prevent it . So

20:51.600 --> 20:54.090
deterrence is , you know , one keyword

20:54.090 --> 20:57.350
here . And this is exactly why NATO is

20:57.350 --> 21:00.270
coming out with the new regional plans

21:00.280 --> 21:03.500
which hopefully will be approved also

21:03.500 --> 21:06.550
in Vilnius Summit . In july , this is

21:06.550 --> 21:10.420
exactly why we have bilateral excellent

21:10.430 --> 21:12.486
cooperation with the United States ,

21:12.486 --> 21:15.590
the United Kingdom France . Denmark ,

21:15.590 --> 21:19.330
who is here Germans are giving

21:19.330 --> 21:22.920
us uh their assets to to provide the

21:22.930 --> 21:25.470
air patrolling etcetera , etcetera .

21:25.480 --> 21:27.420
This is exactly what NATO was

21:27.420 --> 21:31.340
established for to be as one if needed .

21:31.350 --> 21:35.210
So I'm more than sure that uh

21:35.220 --> 21:39.010
we can give enough deterrence and give

21:39.010 --> 21:41.630
the signal to Russians that don't play

21:41.630 --> 21:45.040
with us . Thank you . Thank you . This

21:45.040 --> 21:47.040
concludes our press conference . We

21:47.040 --> 21:48.929
kindly ask for the journalists to

21:48.929 --> 21:50.984
remain in this room for 5-10 minutes

21:50.984 --> 21:51.950
until both minister