NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said U.S. President Donald Trump is “pushing endlessly” on Ukraine, working closely with Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to advance diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Speaking at the “Ukrainian Breakfast” on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rutte described sustained pressure from Trump and his top envoys as negotiations intensify over possible ceasefire arrangements and future security guarantees for Kyiv.
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Speaking at the “Ukrainian Breakfast” on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rutte described sustained pressure from Trump and his top envoys as negotiations intensify over possible ceasefire arrangements and future security guarantees for Kyiv.
#Trump #Rutte #Ukraine #Davos #WorldEconomicForum #BreakingNews #APT #WorldNews #Diplomacy #UkraineWar #PeaceTalks #NATO #InternationalRelations #GlobalPolitics #USPresident #ForeignPolicy
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NewsTranscript
00:00:00And he is pushing with Steve Witkoff, with Jared Kushner, with Marco Rubio,
00:00:05and Liz Lee, of course with help from many Europeans and power I see here,
00:00:09and so many others in this room, working day in day out to get the Ukraine issue solved,
00:00:14to get the war brought to an end, a sustainable end,
00:00:16where Russia will never ever try to attack again.
00:00:20And when it comes to the Arctic, President Trump in his first term already said we should spend more time.
00:00:29That is really a remarkable statement, and it is our entire desire to making sure
00:00:37that that capital is put into the ground as soon as possible,
00:00:42that each and every Ukrainian citizen can see the renewal, the rebuild,
00:00:48and they see a pathway for stable and predictable stability and freedom.
00:00:57Thank you, everyone.
00:01:05Thank you so much, Larry.
00:01:08As you can see, we have a galaxy of heads of government here,
00:01:14but I thought I would begin with the one gentleman who is not a head of government
00:01:17at the stage, who is Mark Rutter, the Secretary General of NATO.
00:01:23Mark, first, thank you for being here. I know you've been busy for the last 24 hours,
00:01:28saving the Western Alliance, for which we all thank you.
00:01:31You're almost getting as much applause as the Ukrainian soldiers.
00:01:44I guess the question would be, if I may, do you feel, after these last few days,
00:01:51that the crisis has been resolved over Greenland and that Greenland will remain a sovereign territory of Denmark?
00:02:02And does all of this give you a sense that the United States under current administration
00:02:09is truly committed to the support of Ukraine and to the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine?
00:02:16Yes.
00:02:19But, let me say, on the Ukraine, absolutely, the answer is yes.
00:02:27And I've never doubted this. President Trump is the one who broke the death of Putin, started to negotiate,
00:02:34which was crucial, because he was the only one who was able to do it from his position when he came to office in January.
00:02:40And he is pushing with Steve Witkoff, with Jared Kushner, with Marco Rubio,
00:02:45endlessly, of course, with help from many European zones and power I see here and so many others in this room,
00:02:51working day in, day out to get the Ukraine issue solved, to get the war brought to an end,
00:02:56a sustainable end, where Russia will never, ever try to attack again.
00:03:00And when it comes to the Arctic, President Trump in his first term already said we should spend more time
00:03:09and more energy on the Arctic and to defend the Arctic against the Russians and the Chinese,
00:03:14because the sea lanes are opening up. Greenland, yes, not only Greenland, it is the whole Arctic,
00:03:19seven nations in NATO, one outside NATO, Russia, and these seven have to defend themselves against
00:03:24Russia and China. And what we discussed yesterday, it was a very good discussion, is how can we do that?
00:03:29One, how can collectively the NATO allies help here, the seven in the high north, and also others to support
00:03:36that, but the seven in the high north, including the United States, because also the United States is
00:03:41an Arctic country, because of Alaska, and of course Canada, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway.
00:03:47How can we make sure that these countries collectively make sure that the Arctic stays safe,
00:03:52that the Russians and the Chinese stay out, and then when it comes to, so that's one war
00:03:56extreme coming out of yesterday, and the other is to make sure when it comes to Greenland, particularly
00:04:01that we ensure that the Chinese and the Russians will not gain access to the Greenland economy,
00:04:08to, militarily to Greenland, and that will be a discussion taken forward, based on what already
00:04:13happened last Wednesday, when Marco Rubio and Vice President Vence had their discussions with the
00:04:19Danish delegation, to take that work forward, to make sure that that can never happen, that the Russians and
00:04:24the Chinese gain access to the Greenland economy, or in a military sense. But of course, all of this
00:04:31is not about Greenland or the Arctic. First of all, this is about how can we protect ourselves
00:04:37against our adversaries. Our main adversary is Russia, for NATO. And of course, we see China
00:04:43massively building up, so let's not be naive about China. But Russia is our main adversary. And these
00:04:49incredibly courageous Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian military, the Ukrainian population, are defending
00:04:56their country against Russia. And what I would hope today, we will discuss how we can help them.
00:05:02They need interceptors. They need our military support going forward. I know we have these pistols going
00:05:10on. Great. Hopefully, they will conclude soon. Yes, I know the European Union freed up 90 billion.
00:05:16Fantastic. But we know that will only be concluded summer in April, May. And today,
00:05:21Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, but also so many smaller cities in Ukraine are being hit by Russian missiles,
00:05:30by Russian drones. We know that the water supply is down. We know that electricity is down. It is minus 20
00:05:36degrees in Kyiv, as we speak. So what we need is to keep our eyes on the ball of Ukraine. Let's not drop
00:05:42that ball. And that means, yes, great peace talks. Fantastic. We will do everything to conclude
00:05:47them successfully, but it will not happen tomorrow. And they need these interceptors,
00:05:52this military support tomorrow. So we have to stay concentrated. So to my European and Canadian friends,
00:05:58we have to do that. And the U.S. is willing to supply as much military stuff Ukraine needs,
00:06:03particularly these interceptors, paid for by Europeans and Canadians. We have to keep going,
00:06:08that flow, making sure that it is still there and that we don't lose sight of this main subject,
00:06:13which is fighting the Russians. The Ukrainians are doing it. They need our support. It's also
00:06:18about our collective security. That's what is at stake here.
00:06:31I'm already failing at my co-moderating task since I can't turn the microphone on. Mark,
00:06:35congratulations on the last few days. Farid, thank you for sharing the stage. And Victor,
00:06:40thank you for again putting together this extraordinary breakfast. And I salute our Ukrainian heroes. This,
00:06:46for me, is the most important breakfast in Davos. And I'm delighted to be here. Alexander Stobb,
00:06:53President Stobb, I wanted to turn to you and ask you, how do we actually get to the next stage that
00:07:01Mark Brutter has mentioned and to what Larry Fink just called the resolute peace and security that
00:07:08Ukraine needs? What are the next steps and how do we get Russia to the table? Sure. Thanks. Thanks a lot,
00:07:13Zani. And thanks, Victor, for the invitation. And thank you to all Ukrainian soldiers for what you do
00:07:20for protecting Europe. Before I begin, let me just gently remind on the Arctic question that NATO was
00:07:28just expanded with a country that has one million individuals trained in Arctic conditions. And that
00:07:35country is Finland. So I think we can do a lot on Arctic security. Now, my two points, one on the
00:07:42peace process and the second one on the narrative of the war on the peace process. I think we are good
00:07:49in a good place in the sense that the United States, Ukraine and Europe, or more specifically,
00:07:55the coalition of the willing is on the same page. Ever since Jared Kushner came in with the help of the
00:08:02work of Jonathan Powell and many others, we're now in a concrete stage where we're looking at somewhere
00:08:08between five plus two documents, which have to do with security guarantees, the prosperity package,
00:08:15which Larry has been working on, a sequencing document, and many others, and the 20-point plan,
00:08:25of course. I think on this particular situation, we're going to be in a position whereby we have
00:08:33full agreement between Ukraine, the United States, and Europe on what I would consider to be a good
00:08:41package, which has, I think, the elements for a lasting peace. But here's where I come to my second
00:08:49point, and that is that I'm not convinced that Russia will approve this. And this is the worry that
00:08:58I have, and that's why I fully agree with Mark that this is not over. Right now, what we need to do is
00:09:06to focus on the today and the near future and how we can provide and sustain and help Ukraine. Now,
00:09:18on the narrative of the war, this is something that I'm a little bit baffled, both in the international
00:09:26discourse and perhaps in some of the things that we hear also coming from the United States. Let's make
00:09:33this clear. Putin has failed in every and each one of his strategic aims. Number one, he wanted to take
00:09:42over Ukraine and make it Russian. He failed. He will not take over Ukraine and Ukraine will become a member
00:09:50of the European Union.
00:09:52Number two, he wanted to prevent the enlargement of NATO. He got two substantive military powers
00:10:08into the alliance and doubled his border with the alliance because Finland joined. Number three, he wanted
00:10:16to project power around the world and in the region. Look what's going on in Central Asia. Look what's going
00:10:23on in the Southern Caucasus. Look what's going on in Iran. Look what's going on in Syria. Look what's going
00:10:29on in Venezuela. It's not exactly a success story from the perspective of the Kremlin. My final point is to
00:10:37say from a military perspective, there seems to be this narrative that Russia is winning. I fundamentally
00:10:44disagree. In the past 1000 days, Russia has advanced a maximum of one percentage point of Ukrainian
00:10:52territory. Today, the cost of that is 1000 dead soldiers per day. That's 30,000 roughly per month. This is
00:11:03dead, not only wounded and on the Russian side. In Afghanistan, in 10 years, 20,000 Russian soldiers
00:11:11died. On top of that, the Russian economy is suffering. There's zero growth, no more reserves. If
00:11:19inflation rates continue to multiply on the level at which they have been this year, that will be 30% of
00:11:26inflation this year. Add to that 16% interest rates. I don't think that the argument that Russia does
00:11:34not want to end the war because it believes that it can advance holds. I think the argument that Russia
00:11:40does not want to end this war because it is too expensive for Putin to end. He will not be able to
00:11:47pay the Russian soldiers. So the big dilemma that we right now have is that how can we force Russia to
00:11:55end this war? And there are only two things that we can do. One, continue to provide Ukraine with
00:12:01everything that's possible. And two, put more economic pressure on Russia. And then we will see
00:12:06that Ukraine will have won this war at the end of the day. Thank you.
00:12:16Let me move over to the president of Latvia, who is an old friend of Ukraine, has been at this
00:12:23breakfast many times. There is now talk of fast-tracking Ukraine's membership into the European
00:12:30Union. Usually this process takes a long time. Understandably, there are many conditions,
00:12:37there are many legal economic reforms that Ukraine has to do or our country has to do to become a
00:12:46member of the European Union. How is this going to work with Ukraine?
00:12:51Well, thank you very much. I want to congratulate you for this upgrade because I feel now like in
00:12:56interrogation room with the bad cop and the good cop asking all the questions. But coming to your
00:13:03question, I do believe, and I very much agree with Alex, that we must work to ensure that Ukraine becomes
00:13:11the European Union member. Having said that, I think that we need also to reckon with three elements.
00:13:18Number one is Ukraine itself. Because membership in the European Union is both strategic, political,
00:13:26but also it's merits-based. And the reform process, fight against corruption, justice reform,
00:13:34also the alignment of many of the Ukrainian economies to European standards is going to be an issue.
00:13:45Number two, and I think that's going to be also the moment of truth for all 27 EU member states,
00:13:52when we will have to convince our publics, when we will have to face many interests from agriculture to
00:14:00industry. And then, of course, it's going to be a very, very tough work, taking also into account what is
00:14:08happening in many of the European countries from the internal political point of view. From point of view of
00:14:14Latvia, we will do our best to get Ukraine as fast in the European Union as possible. And number three, the
00:14:24third element is I do believe also that when we look at the Ukrainian membership in the European Union,
00:14:34we probably need also to address this from the broader perspective. Normally, we have seen the European
00:14:40Union as political union, as monetary union, as economic union. But if Ukraine enters the European Union,
00:14:50I do believe it's also going to make European defense identity much, much stronger. And this is something
00:14:57where I would say, when we talk about Ukrainian membership, yes, we will have a lot of questions.
00:15:04We will have questions about quotas when it comes to goods and services. We will be having a lot of
00:15:10discussion about reforms. But when we talk about that, let's keep in mind that Ukraine in the EU makes
00:15:18European Union also much stronger from security and defense point of view with the largest fighting
00:15:26army in Europe, with all that they have done. And also, I want to use this opportunity to say that
00:15:33when we see those soldiers fighting right now, they also understand that they are keeping the whole of
00:15:40Europe out of the war, out of the war of aggression that Russia would probably be able to launch as we
00:15:46speak. That's where the strategic choice for me is obvious. Ukraine must be in the EU, but I also
00:15:54understand it's not going to be a very easy political debate across European capitals.
00:15:59I'd like to turn now to... I'd like to turn to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands to continue this
00:16:08conversation about the challenge for the EU. Prime Minister, the President of Latvia has just laid out
00:16:14what Ukraine needs to do, but also what the European Union needs to do. And maybe you could elaborate
00:16:21on how you see the EU rising to the challenges, both of providing financing for these years to come,
00:16:28so that we can have this resolute security that Larry Fink laid out, but also the seriousness of the
00:16:35past EU membership. It will be difficult, as the President laid out, but what do you think needs
00:16:40to be done to give the people in this room confidence that the EU is for real on this?
00:16:46Well, yes. I think the last decision the European Council made in December was very important,
00:16:5419 billion for support for Ukraine for the years 26 and 27. It was a tough European Council, but in the
00:17:02end we made it. And I think it was a very strong signal to the people of Ukraine that we are there,
00:17:08and that we are there for them, and that we fully realize, as the Netherlands have been from the
00:17:12start, that this is not only about Ukraine, but that the Russian aggression war against Ukraine is
00:17:17also about freedom and security in Europe. And that's also why the Dutch actually provided a lot of
00:17:23money, a lot of financial support, political support and military support. And also we're welcoming
00:17:30those who need to go out of Ukraine and find a place somewhere in Europe, and I think that is important.
00:17:36So there can be no question about the support that Europe and the European Union gives to Ukraine.
00:17:45And in relation to the membership, there is no question that the place to be for Ukraine is the
00:17:51European Union. But the pathway to the membership of the European Union, I would probably agree with
00:17:57the President of Latvia. It's a balanced process. And the country is currently at war. And it's amazing
00:18:06what the country has been doing in its own governance to step up to the threshold of the European Union.
00:18:14And we should salute that and further support that. And then, in the end, there will be a membership
00:18:20of Ukraine for the European Union.
00:18:26Can I just ask one follow-up on to that? When you say in the end,
00:18:30what kind of time frame are we talking about?
00:18:32I think it's very difficult. Because if we look at the way we are dealing with it now,
00:18:38it will take a couple of years. We have to be honest about that. Because we don't want to bring
00:18:45the European Union itself unstabilized when a country comes in too quickly. So we have to find ways to make
00:18:54very clear that the European Union is the end station for Ukraine. It's the home for Ukraine.
00:19:00But at the same time, we have to be very careful, also in regard to our population, but also to the
00:19:06institutions, and also for Ukraine itself, that they step up to all the thresholds that are needed
00:19:12to come into the European Union.
00:19:14Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to take this opportunity to just once again break from the
00:19:24program on stage, because we have a very special guest with us.
00:19:28We have President Trump's representative to deal with negotiations on Ukraine and many other matters,
00:19:37one of the most important members of the Trump administration, and the point man,
00:19:42certainly on the discussion of how to negotiate some kind of settlement, Steve Witkoff.
00:19:55Can I get you, Steve, to tell us a little bit about the progress of the talks and how close you think
00:20:01we are to a deal? Sure. First of all, thank you. Kellyanne, thanks for having me. You can't say no to
00:20:07Kellyanne. She asked me last night to be here, but it's an easy one because I have many friends here.
00:20:12Including my new friend, David. So first of all, thank you. I think we've made a lot of progress.
00:20:22I think in the beginning of this process, there was a little bit of confusion.
00:20:27I was going to Moscow quite a bit, but I think it was important that we go there, because we're at the
00:20:35end now, and I actually am optimistic. I spent the evening with David last night, with General
00:20:42Butinov, who's now Vice President Butinov, and Rustam. They've been amazing, by the way. You have,
00:20:50to the Ukrainian people here, you have an amazing negotiating team. We spent a lot of time together.
00:20:55I don't know how much, but it could be a hundred hours together since Geneva. It's literally that
00:21:00comprehensive. And I think we've got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that
00:21:07issue, and that means it's solvable. So if both sides want to solve this, we're going to get it
00:21:12solved. That's my view. And I told the President that last night. And last night, Mark, I think,
00:21:18and it informs on this, the President sent out the tweet. We had a great meeting about NATO,
00:21:24about the European-American alliance, which informs on this conflict too, I think, as we discussed.
00:21:31So, I just, I feel encouraged. David, you're great to work with. And Rustam, and by the way,
00:21:40I want to mention President Zelensky, because he's been on this issue. He's available. He's accessible.
00:21:47Whenever there's a need to call him to get a steer, we get on the phone with him. And of course,
00:21:52as everyone knows with President Trump, just as he said yesterday, Mark, with you,
00:21:58when we were talking about direct negotiations, he said, well, can I handle the negotiation directly?
00:22:03We'd love to. So the President is always accessible as well. Just the way he is.
00:22:10So we're off to Moscow tonight. We're not staying over. We're going right to Abu Dhabi.
00:22:15That's an important data point, because in Abu Dhabi, we'll be the working groups. Military
00:22:21to military, prosperity. Jared and I talk all the time about the importance of prosperity,
00:22:28and of course, we have what I would regard as the best-in-class prosperity advisor on the team,
00:22:35and that's Larry Fink. And Larry was good enough to volunteer for the job.
00:22:40I volunteered for the last 11 months, so why shouldn't Larry volunteer?
00:22:47And Jared as well, by the way. He's now a volunteer as well. President Trump is very
00:22:51good at saving money, Davida, okay? He gets us all for free, and you do too now.
00:22:57So, but prosperity is really big. All night long, we spent at dinner last night talking about
00:23:06the upward trajectory for the Ukrainian economy and financial system. Capital markets, the jobs.
00:23:14The President has talked about a tariff-free zone from Ukraine that I think would be game-changing.
00:23:20You'll see industry move into that area in a huge way. Imagine you get to out-compete because
00:23:26you're not paying tariffs and sending goods into the United States. So there's some huge things that
00:23:31we've talked about that the Ukrainian people deserve because they have been so courageous in this fight,
00:23:37and they're under some real difficult conditions today. And I am completely empathetic on behalf of the
00:23:47President and our administration to that, and that's part of why we're going to Moscow, to have
00:23:52that discussion about how we end this thing and how we make it better for your people. So with that,
00:24:00I'll turn it back to the panel, and I'll thank you for allowing me to be here today and make some
00:24:05remarks. And I want you to know that this is the most important endeavor that Jared and I have.
00:24:12We are tasked with doing everything possible to get this solved, and with the President's
00:24:18indomitable spirit and President Zelensky's indomitable spirit, because I'm pretty sure that he
00:24:25feels as President Trump does, it's time to end this. I think we're going to get it done. So thank you.
00:24:39Thank you so much. It's incredibly valuable to hear literally from the negotiator's mouth where things
00:24:46stand. Let me go next to the Prime Minister of Belgium. One of the ways that Europe can demonstrate
00:24:55that it is serious about confronting the challenge from Russia would be, it would seem to me,
00:25:02confiscating Russian sovereign assets. This is an easy demonstration of European will.
00:25:13It does set a precedent. There's no question. And it feels to me that the precedent it sets
00:25:19is if you ruthlessly and aggressively invade your neighbor, violate international law and commit war
00:25:25crimes, your money is not safe. Why is that not happening? You know I ask this because the government
00:25:35of Belgium has been, has had a somewhat complicated stance on this issue.
00:25:42So now I know why you invited me. It's a very nice question. It's of course a very sensitive topic.
00:25:49I think first and foremost I want to say it's Europe's obligation to finance Ukraine, and we did.
00:25:56Europe will never win beauty prizes for the way it takes decisions, but at the end of the day,
00:26:00there is a result 90 billion to finance Ukraine this year and next year. So we got a solution.
00:26:07It went unnoticed, but we also decided that the Russian central bank money, the immobilized assets,
00:26:13not the frozen assets, the immobilized assets, most of which are in Belgium, in the clearinghouse
00:26:19Euroclear, are immobilized for an indefinite period. This is a very important decision, because of course,
00:26:26you cannot just take somebody's money. We're not at war with Russia. Europe is not at war with Russia.
00:26:32You cannot simply confiscate money. That is an act of war. You shouldn't underestimate it. It has
00:26:38never happened in history. Immobilized money, even during the Second World War, was never confiscated.
00:26:44It would be the very first time that that would happen in history, and that would have grave consequences
00:26:50for Europe, for the belief, the trust in the financial system, for the Eurozone. It is not to be
00:26:57underestimated. There's no such thing as free money. Anything that sounds simple in reality is very
00:27:04complicated. And it went unnoticed, but we immobilized indefinitely. It is no longer depending
00:27:10on the sanctions that we have to prolong every six months. And we all know that not everybody at the
00:27:16European table. Europe is not a country. It's not a super state with a supreme leader. It is a
00:27:21confederation. Everybody needs to agree. And we all know the difficult truth. Some European countries
00:27:28are not so pro-Ukrainian. Some might, at some stage, say we do no longer want to prolong sanctions,
00:27:37and then immediately you have to release those assets. Now, if you take assets, confiscate them,
00:27:43spend them, and at a certain moment in time, you have to repay them, then you have a big problem.
00:27:48So, I think we took a very good decision. The financing of Ukraine is there, and the assets will
00:27:54be immobilized until the end of the war, which means that, as it always went in history, when there
00:28:00will be a peace deal, the assets will be on the table. And let me be very clear about that. At that moment,
00:28:08if I have my way, and I have a say in this, every penny of that money will be used for the repayment
00:28:15and the reconstruction of Ukraine. I would be very sad to see one euro return to Moscow. But we have to
00:28:23respect international law. It will happen at that moment. And between that moment and now,
00:28:29Europe will finance the war in Ukraine, as we should do, because they are fighting for us.
00:28:34Well, that's a very reassuring statement. Zannie, do you have a...
00:28:40It is a very reassuring statement, but it does. I think your frankness, Prime Minister, in saying,
00:28:46not all members of the European Union, you said, some are not so pro-Ukraine. And I think
00:28:51it is important to take that realism in the next question, which I'm going to pose to the Prime
00:28:57Minister of Croatia, because I would like to ask you, over the next few years, to get to this goal
00:29:04that you have all committed to, that Ukraine should be part of the European Union, what are you going
00:29:10to do? First of all, how does the EU need to change? And what are you going to do to be credible
00:29:15to everybody in this room that this really is a goal that is imminent and not a goal that is decades
00:29:20hence? Because the European Union does have a history of talking about membership and then taking
00:29:25decades to get there. Well, first of all, thanks to Viktor for another invitation for the Ukrainian
00:29:32breakfast. And on behalf of Croatian government and someone who has been here for years, Croatia
00:29:38certainly belongs to the group of countries which is very clearly pro-Ukrainian in terms of solidarity
00:29:43and support all along. Stabbing from our own experience, because Croatia, due to the greater
00:29:49Serbian aggression in the beginning of the 90s, had at one point also 27 percent of its territory
00:29:55occupied. Ukraine today has around 19 and a half percent and that is the result of the aggression
00:30:03that is actually long now for more than 12 years. When it comes to the European Union stance towards
00:30:11Ukraine here, I would say that there are some of us who have bilateral agreements with Ukraine clearly
00:30:17defining our support towards membership. This is something I signed with President Zelenskyy before
00:30:23the second aggression in December in 2021. I think that Dick has said something which is very important.
00:30:32The overall situation with Ukraine, in my view, has three elements. One is the peace process,
00:30:38second is the integration, third one towards the European Union and third one is the reconstruction.
00:30:45Of course, the condition of sine qua non is to stop the Russian aggression against Ukraine which actually
00:30:52at the moment we don't see stopping because of the continuous drafting of the new soldiers on the Russian
00:31:00side. Basically, if they lose one thousand people a day, there are one thousand new conscripts coming and
00:31:07being prepared for the Ukrainian front. Unfortunately, everything that Alex has said in respect to the
00:31:14effects of the restrictive measures and sanctions and the weakening of the Russian economy and the
00:31:20inflatory pressures and everything that is supposed to have an effect has not translated into a political
00:31:26change in Russia. This is the key problem. And I think Ukraine is of course aware, all of us who are
00:31:33there aware. In other circumstances, maybe you would have had a grassroots movement, civil society,
00:31:40media, independent institutions, opposition. Over there, we don't see it. Unfortunately, we are preserving
00:31:46very closely, but we don't see it. And we do not really see that this will change. This is important.
00:31:53So, on the EU side, there is one element which all our Ukrainian friends should be aware. The approach
00:32:00to the enlargement so far was based on the so-called merit-based approach of every country that aspires
00:32:06to be a member, which means that a criteria, process, when the process is fulfilled, everybody agrees with
00:32:13the Commission's assessment in the Council and then the process can be completed. What we see now are the
00:32:19signals of the different approach. And that approach is geopolitical. And that is, in my view,
00:32:26the only real chance that speedier integration of Ukraine to the European Union will happen. But
00:32:33it will not happen without two critical debates. The famous fourth Copenhagen criteria, I mean the
00:32:38Copenhagen of 1993, which is the so-called absorption capacity of the European Union. And the absorption
00:32:45capacity in terms of Ukrainian membership means impact on budget, impact on key policies such as
00:32:53agriculture, cohesion, and most of all, the decision-making process. This will have to be
00:32:59combined in a way so that we deliver. That's why I'm not surprised that the Netherlands, who has always
00:33:05been, I would say, the watchdog of the proper enlargement, is a little bit more reserved than those countries
00:33:11who have. We are friends, and I can say it. And Mark was exactly the same as you, as you are. So it's not
00:33:17the change. I think the Ukraine has to be aware of this. So one thing is the political aspiration. The
00:33:24other thing is actual consensus on the date and its implications. So I think we are at a good position
00:33:31today. But before that, the key thing is to end the war. What I would advise, and I said this to
00:33:38President Zelensky, all the peace agreements and documents, they have two aspects. One is the
00:33:45moment in the context when they are signed, the pressure, the time, the sort of exhaustion of the
00:33:52difficulties that you are in, and their historical consequences 5, 10, 20 years later. My advice is
00:33:59never to lift, to leave an ink of a pen on the paper that would, de jure, give up Ukrainian territory.
00:34:08I think this is critically important for the whole legacy of this generation of Ukrainians,
00:34:13everything they have done so far, not only for the Ukrainian interest, but also as a clear precedent
00:34:20for the stability of international system and the international law, international relations in the
00:34:25future. This is something that we should not forget in trying to help Ukraine to attain the peace and
00:34:32prosperity, of course, which we shall support. And we as a country have supported them in every possible
00:34:37way that we could. Let me move to
00:34:41Let me move to a Ukrainian friend, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Taras Kachka.
00:34:55One of the challenges that Ukraine faces in meeting these conditions for Europe is the perception that
00:35:03Ukraine still remains a very, to be honest, bureaucratic and corrupt country. In fact, there has been a
00:35:11recent corruption scandal that engulfed Ukraine required the resignation of key members of the
00:35:18government. What do you think Ukraine can do that will assure Europe and the international community
00:35:26that it is actually engaging in the kind of deep structural reforms, almost a reconstruction of its
00:35:34government, that would be required to genuinely qualify for European Union membership?
00:35:39Thank you. Thank you for this question that addressed to the most bureaucratic looking
00:35:44member of the Ukrainian cabinet. You are not by far. So I think that first you see that how the project of
00:35:53bringing prosperity to Ukraine is complex since we need a seven plus speakers to explain all dimensions.
00:36:00And so I will concentrate on your questions. But I agree with majority of what was said. And I think that it's important to understand where we are, not only on what we need to do, but where we are in our position. So that all our partners wants predictability, trust, rule of law.
00:36:19We also want predictability in security guarantee, financial support and predictability in accession to the EU. So we need to agree that we are in consent with merit-based approach to your accession.
00:36:31But we want your commitment to accept us by certain date so that it will not happen somewhere in uncertainty. And if we are talking about complex figures, we need to find a solution how to bring Ukraine to the EU and provide free tariffs for certain territories to export to the United States.
00:36:50How complex it is in EU trade law, yeah. But let's talk about rule of law and corruption, where I think that we need to be conscious that we are in the, let's say, final and the most complex stage of various structural transformation that lasted since 2015 or 2014.
00:37:08So we, thanks to the current parliament and MPs, we have independent and very functional anti-corruption framework.
00:37:18And the figures for last year, so they're just like, I will quote as a bureaucrat, yeah, so that's, so NABU has started 737 cases last year.
00:37:27So it has special anti-corruption prosecution made 124 indictments against 280 persons in Ukraine.
00:37:37And courts issued 93 sentences against 130 persons. So it is there.
00:37:44And in my opinion, since I actually presented the resignation of these two ministers in parliament, is that every discovered case in Ukraine is a win because we are getting cleaner.
00:37:56And yes, indeed, we are still have some, let's say, echoes of the July events.
00:38:03Yeah, so indeed, it was a mistake. And we all made a lot of mistakes.
00:38:07For example, we provide non-providing to Ukraine towers or tomahawks.
00:38:12But we fixed our mistake. And the question whether other mistakes are fixed.
00:38:17We still have a lot of indecisiveness among our partners.
00:38:20And that's why we really committed to do the things, and we highlighted this in papers on prosperity, that we committed to all reforms within your accession.
00:38:31We are saying that we want merit-based accession, and tomorrow I will report to member states on our success and so on.
00:38:39But we need to spend this year not yelling about complexities, not to lecture each other, but to close in all these things, to close the peace deal,
00:38:49to advance on EU accession, on prosperity things, and next year to celebrate, maybe celebrate accession to the EU, even if it sounds fantastic.
00:39:01What a wonderful note of optimism.
00:39:05And I'm delighted to hear this level of detailed commitment from you and these warm words of encouragement from the Prime Ministers of the European Union.
00:39:13But I'd like to turn now to a contribution from the floor from Jonathan Powell, my fellow countryman and national security advisor to the United Kingdom.
00:39:22You heard those wonderful words from Steve Witkoff earlier about how well the negotiations were going and that you were going to Moscow.
00:39:31And I'd like to ask you, Jonathan, as a man who's got tremendous experience in reaching successful negotiations, too,
00:39:41what do you think needs to be done to get President Putin to agree?
00:39:45Thanks, Danny, and thank you very much, Victor, for arranging this breakfast.
00:39:51I had the pleasure of meeting these soldiers from Ukraine yesterday, and I would pay tribute not just to their heroism,
00:39:58but also to the suffering that some of them have been through as prisoners of war and the brutal treatment they have had from the Russians in those circumstances.
00:40:06It's perfectly clear this war won't end with a victory on either side.
00:40:11Russia is not going to be able to defeat Ukraine, thanks to the bravery of these soldiers.
00:40:16Ukraine will not be able to reclaim its territory by physical force, so there have to be negotiations.
00:40:23And President Trump is quite right to push these negotiations, to use his power to make them succeed.
00:40:28And we have made a lot of progress on our side.
00:40:31Steve, Jared, together with Ukrainian negotiators and Europeans, have agreed a whole range of things,
00:40:37from security guarantees, prosperity, which Larry Fink is working on.
00:40:41But what we haven't seen is any evidence from President Putin that he is prepared to compromise,
00:40:47that he is prepared to negotiate, he's prepared to compromise and actually make peace.
00:40:53I think the only thing, having watched President Putin for 25 years, is that he's very indecisive.
00:40:58He finds it very hard to reach a decision.
00:41:00He's a judo player.
00:41:01He keeps his options open.
00:41:03So I think what we have to do is apply pressure to President Putin, financial pressure, military pressure,
00:41:08and have a deadline where he has to make a decision.
00:41:11I think that's the only thing that will make this work.
00:41:14And now he's become a member of the Board of Peace.
00:41:16I hope he can actually live up to his new role and deliver that peace by engaging seriously.
00:41:22The only other thing I would say is that, having worked on a very large number of both successful and failed peace processes,
00:41:29is they always take a lot longer than you expect.
00:41:32That's one rule for all of them.
00:41:34So I think we should be patient.
00:41:35This won't be solved tomorrow.
00:41:36It's important to push, as Steve is doing.
00:41:38But it doesn't happen immediately.
00:41:40We have to remain committed to it.
00:41:42And most of all, we have to find a way of Putin seriously engaging.
00:41:46And no doubt Steve, given his remarkable abilities, will achieve that tomorrow in Moscow before going on to the Emirates.
00:41:53Thanks.
00:41:53Thank you very much.
00:42:23Thank you very much.
00:42:53Can we get another mic that works, please?
00:42:58Thank you, Freed.
00:43:01One of the things I learned about war is that war competition is tougher than business competition,
00:43:07because lives are at stake.
00:43:09And the transformation in Ukraine from a tech-ish country to a tech country at scale has been dramatic.
00:43:16How do you win or hold against a larger opponent, three times, four times more people, much more weapons, artillery, and so forth?
00:43:26The answer is you innovate.
00:43:27And so as the brutal necessity of the war started, or became, Ukraine developed a sort of new form of war, largely leading with drones.
00:43:40Soon, the Russians copied, and so now in the crucible of this horrible, horrible war, which I spent a lot of time in, you're seeing whole new techniques that will be used in the future for national security, for NATO, for the West, and undoubtedly for our enemies as well.
00:43:58Now, I've come to the view that war is actually going to reverse, and that the way you do war and the way you do national security will start with robots in the form of drones, air, land, and sea, and so forth.
00:44:14It is my absolute conviction that when this war is over, that Ukraine will become one of the largest suppliers of this new form of war, new form of defense, because the people are really that good.
00:44:28And by the way, having spent a lot of time with these people, you cannot imagine the courage of the people at this table.
00:44:35Thank you very much.
00:44:40Thank you, Eric.
00:44:42I'd like to now turn to Jens Stoltenberg, Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Norway, and, of course, former NATO Secretary-General, to build on that.
00:44:51Jens, you have extraordinary experience, both of understanding the military side of things and now the financial constraints involved.
00:44:59And I wondered if you could elaborate on what, for you, resolute security for Ukraine implies.
00:45:06What are the nature of the guarantees and the implementation thereof that would actually provide the security that is needed?
00:45:14Thank you so much, Sany, and many thanks to Victor for hosting this very important event, and, again, many thanks to the Ukrainian soldiers.
00:45:21Well, I think what it holds is that we need to not only agree among ourselves on the platform for peace in Ukraine, but we need to do something which is more difficult, and that is to find a way to agree with President Putin.
00:45:35And I met President Putin for the first time in the year 2000.
00:45:42He was a newly elected President of Russia.
00:45:45I was a newly elected Prime Minister of Norway.
00:45:47And over the following years, I actually worked with him on many different issues.
00:45:52We were even able to make big agreements on, for instance, a delimitation line in the Barents Sea.
00:45:59So the big question is whether we are able to make an agreement with Putin now on peace in Ukraine.
00:46:05And I don't think we can change Putin's mind.
00:46:08His aim, his ambition is to control Ukraine.
00:46:11There's no doubt about that, but I think we can change Putin's calculus that if the price he has to pay for controlling Ukraine is too high, then he will be forced to sit down and negotiate something which is acceptable for Ukraine.
00:46:25And the only, only way to get there is to provide military support to Ukraine.
00:46:31That's the only way, because the cost has to be so high that he accepts to sit down and respect Ukraine as a sovereign independent nation.
00:46:38Therefore, I welcome what NATO and NATO allies do.
00:46:42NATO is playing a more important role in coordinating support, thanks to Mark.
00:46:46But I also, of course, know that the only way NATO can, NATO allies and Western countries can provide support to Ukraine is that individual allies provide that support to Ukraine.
00:46:58And I moved from my position in Brussels to a job I had 30 years ago, being Minister of Finance in Norway.
00:47:05I, people, some, most people move forward, I will move backwards.
00:47:10But, but I'm proud that the first decision I was part of, the first bill I put forward to the parliament was to triple Norway's financial support to Ukraine.
00:47:22Meaning that we now provide 8.5 billion dollars yearly, last year and this year.
00:47:35We are less than 6 million people, but we need to step up more support to Ukraine.
00:47:41It's the only way to facilitate a negotiated solution and to end the war.
00:47:46And that's why this is important.
00:47:48When we talk about support for Ukraine, of course, many people wonder, how strong is the American commitment to Ukraine?
00:48:03And American government still in the Constitution has three branches of government.
00:48:08And we have a very distinguished representative from the first branch of government, Congress.
00:48:15Chris Coons, do you want to give us a sense of the mood in Congress in terms of support for Ukraine?
00:48:23One of the questions I think we should be asking in the United States is, who are these brave soldiers fighting for?
00:48:31Yes, they're fighting for their families, they're fighting for their country, but they're fighting for us.
00:48:37They're fighting for our freedom and our future.
00:48:40This will be defined as a century of freedom when they win.
00:48:46And the United States should be absolutely clear that we will provide uninterrupted, robust, intelligent support, military support, and financial support to the cause of Ukraine.
00:48:59I'm here with a bipartisan delegation, Senators Tillis and Murkowski, Senator Graham, who has been furiously texting with me.
00:49:06Don't give him your number if you want to sleep.
00:49:08He is relentless.
00:49:09And I just want to briefly say, many of you know that there is unfinished work in the United States Congress.
00:49:16Next week, we will pass the defense appropriations bill.
00:49:20I'm the senior Democrat on defense and intelligence appropriations.
00:49:24And it will include funding for Ukraine, for U.S. assistance directly to Ukraine, which I believe is an important public signal.
00:49:32Hundreds of millions of dollars.
00:49:33But we also need to be prepared to ratify a strong security guarantee.
00:49:40So if we can do what has to be done next and get Putin to the table and provide the pressure on him and on all those who are buying his oil, we can conclude this war.
00:49:53So we need to be insistent and courageous and determined as politicians, every bit as much as these men and women who have served and sacrificed are.
00:50:04And we must be clear-eyed that the issues discussed, admission to the EU, access to frozen funds, sustained reform within Ukraine, incredible innovation that is transforming the future of conflict,
00:50:17can and should be met, as Steve mentioned, by tariff-free access to the United States markets, and with a persistent and sustained, not just cautious, not just hesitant, but celebratory support of the fight for freedom that these Ukrainians have dedicated their lives and hearts to.
00:50:45I am struck by how wonderfully upbeat our conversation has been this morning.
00:50:52And I'd like now to turn to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radek Sikorsky, a man who has been a powerful voice and a powerful supporter and, indeed, proponent of the debate around Ukraine for many years, actually.
00:51:13And you've been very far-sighted in seeing the dangers of President Putin and the risks.
00:51:18I'd like to ask you for your sort of sober assessment, not just celebrating the progress that has been made, but what worries you most?
00:51:28Thank you, Zany.
00:51:30In addition to saluting the soldiers, I'd like to salute the ordinary Ukrainians who are going through hell right now.
00:51:43A large proportion of the people of Ukraine live in the type of communist-era housing estates on which I was brought up in communist Poland.
00:51:56And they depend for heat and electricity on these area heating plants.
00:52:01And when the heat and electricity don't come through, you actually have to drain water from the radiators.
00:52:12And then these housing estates become almost unlivable.
00:52:17And you now have an exodus of population from the major population centers, including Kiev.
00:52:24And it's a real danger to Ukraine.
00:52:27These people did nothing to deserve this.
00:52:33Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure is a war crime.
00:52:38Vladimir Putin is no man of peace.
00:52:40I was very cheered to hear Mr. Vitkov's assessment that we might be close to a deal, and I hope he's right.
00:52:52In the spirit of President Trump's hyperrealism, I'd like to just say what Europe's cards in this are.
00:53:00So, last year, we financed not just the war, but also the functioning of the Ukrainian state.
00:53:08The biggest sanction on Russia is the denial of the European market to Russian oil and gas.
00:53:17We have sanctioned the Klanka fleet.
00:53:20We have, as the Prime Minister of Belgium said, we have now permanently blocked the Russian assets.
00:53:27We have pledged 90 billion euros to sustain Ukraine for this year and next.
00:53:33We will be providing the majority of funds for Ukraine's reconstruction.
00:53:39We will take some risks in admitting Ukraine into the EU.
00:53:46And it is our security that is at stake.
00:53:48Poland is actually the only NATO and EU countries at borders, both Russia and Ukraine.
00:53:57So, these are our cards.
00:53:59And here's my one suggestion and one worry.
00:54:07The worry is that if Ukraine doesn't end up within defensible borders as a result of the deal that I hope comes,
00:54:20we will be planting the seeds of the next war.
00:54:24And my final suggestion is that to get to a fair deal,
00:54:29you have to put pressure not on the victim of aggression, but on the aggressor.
00:54:36Thank you very much.
00:54:46We've spoken a lot about the Ukrainian soldiers who are here,
00:54:51heralded their extraordinary courage.
00:54:53and for those of us who have seen them in Ukraine, it really is remarkable.
00:55:00I thought I'd call on one of them to share perspective at this moment.
00:55:06Yuri Filatov has a job that three or four years ago didn't exist in any army in the world.
00:55:14He is the unmanned aerial vehicle commander of the 3rd Army Corps.
00:55:20Yuri.
00:55:20Yeah, thank you.
00:55:22Thank you, gentlemen.
00:55:23Ladies, thank you for this opportunity to come here and to have this message directly from Frontline.
00:55:31During these days, we have great conversations with many nations, first of all, European nations,
00:55:39and my main message would be for them.
00:55:42You know, this kind of conversation we have right now reminds me of our conversation during December 2021,
00:55:52probably January 2022, in Ukraine, with our friends.
00:55:59And we were also discussing possibilities, what would come and what can happen.
00:56:07Right now, we are in a state that international law is not working anymore.
00:56:13And we, as Ukrainians, know that for a long time.
00:56:18Let's shortly remind how we get here.
00:56:23Ukraine has given third largest nuclear arsenal giveaway for international guarantees.
00:56:30We gave up our missiles to Russia.
00:56:36Actually, they flew later to us again.
00:56:40And then it was 2014 and Crimea.
00:56:47And we suppose that, okay, we have guarantees, we have international law.
00:56:53But no, but no, it was not that time.
00:56:57It was an inconvenient topic.
00:56:59And we decided to close eyes for this incident.
00:57:05And actually, this is what we see right now, is a chain of events that are linked all together.
00:57:20When international law doesn't work, then strength becomes the only thing that is accountable.
00:57:29And I believe that, you know, when I was staying in line at enlistment military office in 2022,
00:57:44being an IT professional for 20 years, I was very angry for ourselves.
00:57:50Because we were believing in this.
00:57:53And that was not there, in fact.
00:57:56You know, right now, I am talking to you as the Chief Unmanned System Officer of 3rd Army Corps.
00:58:09The Corps that is larger than average European army.
00:58:15The Corps that is holding 200 kilometers of front line.
00:58:21And which is destroying 1,000 enemies per week.
00:58:26And from this perspective, I have a couple of advises.
00:58:33Just accept the reality.
00:58:37The reality, a new reality, that international law doesn't work.
00:58:42This trench, actually, the only thing that these neo-empires could actually listen to.
00:58:50And could understand.
00:58:53It's not, unfortunately, I don't really believe in deals.
00:58:58Because deals also are kind of rational.
00:59:03But they are not.
00:59:04And so, please accept this.
00:59:09As soon as you accept, you will not be angry on yourself when something would happen.
00:59:16First of all, to Europeans.
00:59:19None of individual European armies can withdraw.
00:59:23So, for the army, we are holding.
00:59:26We are holding, right now, a million-plus army at the border of European Union.
00:59:33We are discussing that acceptance of Ukraine to European Union as it is.
00:59:40In fact, I believe, the Ukrainian army is already a part of European security.
00:59:48We enter it by fact.
00:59:51The European Union.
01:00:03So, please, be united.
01:00:06United Europe should unite altogether.
01:00:10And be strong.
01:00:11Because only that matters for Putin's neo-empire.
01:00:22Zani, can I take this moment to hand over the podium to you?
01:00:29Because I have to go and chair the session with the President of Israel in the main Wef Hall.
01:00:36President Stubb has a similar commitment.
01:00:38And I think the Prime Minister of Belgium has one.
01:00:40So, Zani is going to solo moderate.
01:00:44So, now the IQ level has really gone up.
01:00:47Hardly.
01:00:47But thank you, Fareed.
01:00:48Thank you, President Stubb.
01:00:49Thank you, Prime Minister.
01:00:50We are...
01:00:53And thank you, Yuri Filatov, for that very powerful intervention and, indeed, extremely powerful point.
01:01:03Ukraine is already protecting European security.
01:01:07I think that is something absolutely essential for us to know.
01:01:09We've been honored to be joined by two more U.S. senators, Senator Murkowski and Senator Tillis.
01:01:16And I wondered, Senator Tillis, whether you would like to offer your perspective on the role that you would like the United States to play,
01:01:24both in the achievement of a peace deal and then in the sustaining of credible security guarantees for Ukraine.
01:01:35Good morning.
01:01:35I'm Tom Tillis, Senator from North Carolina.
01:01:38Some of you may not know about North Carolina, but one of the reasons...
01:01:42And actually, if I speak about the military service members here, if I shed a tear, it's a tear of gratitude.
01:01:48But we're the home of the global response force.
01:01:51When the president has an emergency somewhere around the world, it's the 82nd Airborne from Fort Bragg that leave and literally can take a city and deploy it anywhere in the world within 96 hours.
01:02:04Down the road from there, we were the home to half of the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune.
01:02:10I can tell you, gentlemen and ladies of the Ukrainian Army, we are in awe of your courage and what you've done on the battlefield.
01:02:18Will you please stand and let all of us give you a warm round of applause?
01:02:23Please stand.
01:02:25God bless you.
01:02:36God bless your families.
01:02:39And God bless Ukraine.
01:02:44I ran from the other end of Davos to make sure that I could get here and if I did nothing more, thank you.
01:02:52I was in Kyiv. I was at the Munich Security Conference last year and then I left there, went to Poland, took the train to Kyiv and I went out to Buccia and I think of a number of people in the United States and many people who are negotiating this peace need to understand what happened there.
01:03:10I live in Charlotte, North Carolina.
01:03:12I live about about the same distance from downtown North Charlotte as Buccia is from Kyiv.
01:03:18And we all know that month, early after the invasion, the illegal invasion, that a lying Putin affected after he said he had a special military operation.
01:03:33It was military exercises.
01:03:35This is the litany of lies of Putin that I hope to get to.
01:03:38But now let's get back to Buccia.
01:03:39Over the course of 30 days, the president of Russia allowed the systematic kidnap, torture, rape and murder of people in a suburb just 30 minutes outside of Kyiv.
01:03:54This is what that vicious dictator of Russia perpetrated on the poor, innocent civilians of Buccia.
01:04:06I saw this in Buccia and I went to the memorial.
01:04:10I saw all those lives, more than 500 lost, at the direct command and knowledge of Vladimir Putin.
01:04:17He has systematically done that throughout all of Ukraine.
01:04:23And you all, in spite of that, in spite of the threat to your families, in spite of the murder that's occurred over this weekend while he pretends to want peace, you've stood strong.
01:04:34And you need to understand that the American people are behind you.
01:04:38And we will be behind you.
01:04:40And as a U.S. senator, I will do everything I can to bring the Article I branch behind you.
01:04:45And there will be no lasting peace unless it's something that's ratified by the Article I branch.
01:04:52It can't just be a deal.
01:04:54It can't be something that Vladimir Putin won't honor.
01:04:58It has to be something that has the binding force of a treaty and subject to the Article I branch.
01:05:03Otherwise, in my opinion, it's not worth the paper it's written on.
01:05:10Vladimir Putin is a liar.
01:05:15Ukraine stands in the breach.
01:05:19After the Munich Security Conference this year, I'll be traveling to Moldova.
01:05:23Thank God, in spite of Russia's attempts to steal that election, democracy won.
01:05:31And this poor country, which incidentally has North Carolina National Guard stationed there, is still hoping that we succeed in Ukraine so that Putin will not continue his march through Moldova.
01:05:45The West Balkans had tried to reestablish the Russian Empire.
01:05:49This is unacceptable.
01:05:52And it's as big a threat to the United States as it is to Europe.
01:05:55For anybody who thinks we have a big OSHA that protects us, they don't understand history.
01:06:00They don't understand that Xi Jinping is cheering on Vladimir Putin and hoping that the West makes a mistake.
01:06:07But, ladies and gentlemen, we have an opportunity to turn the tide.
01:06:13We have an opportunity to end Putin's ambitions.
01:06:17We have an opportunity to free the Russian people, ultimately, and have them live in a family of democracies.
01:06:23But, in the meantime, our family, the family of democracies in NATO, have to stand strong.
01:06:30And the United States has to unequivocally commit to NATO in its current form and build on it.
01:06:37This is the most important treaty organization in the history of the world.
01:06:42It's a reason why we've had the level of peace that we have had over the last 80 years.
01:06:46And if we want to continue that peace, if we want to continue prosperity, and if we want to continue to spread democracy throughout the world, America must lead.
01:06:58And I'm here to help you, and once again, I want to thank you for your courage.
01:07:02I want to thank you for, overnight, becoming the most powerful army in Europe.
01:07:07I don't know how you do it.
01:07:09But every night I pray for you, and every night I will pray for you, until Ukraine is free.
01:07:16Senator, thank you for those powerful words.
01:07:28Let me now turn to a man who will give us a provocative and broader historical perspective.
01:07:36I don't think I even need to say his name, but Professor Neil Ferguson, what is your take on this?
01:07:42And what are we missing in this conversation this morning?
01:07:44Thank you, Senator Tillis.
01:07:45Thank you, Zannie.
01:07:48I can't match Senator Tillis for rhetorical passion, though I admire the sentiments he just expressed.
01:07:58But I can't help but point out how strange this week has been.
01:08:07This, Davos was billed as the spirit of dialogue.
01:08:11The dialogue that I've been reminded of is the Melian dialogue in Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian Wars, which you all are familiar with, I'm sure.
01:08:25The key passage is the line in which the Athenians tell the Melians, the strong do what they wish, the weak do what they must.
01:08:41And that's been, and that's been, in some ways, the nature of the surreal conversation that has gone on for most of this week, consuming most of our time about Greenland.
01:08:55Passionate speeches about international law, which might have come from the mouths of the Melians, and then realist responses, which certainly recall the Athenians.
01:09:11There are a number of European leaders here, who I want to ask a question.
01:09:22When all the fine speeches have been made about support for Ukraine, I would love to understand why the pace of European rearmament is still so slow.
01:09:37Because it's one thing to commit to increase your defense spending to 3% or even 5% of GDP.
01:09:46It's another to actually do something, to procure the weapons, to modernize the defense forces of Europe.
01:09:57Let me take the example of Denmark.
01:10:00Denmark has very nobly delivered a very large proportion of its arms to Ukraine.
01:10:10I think my friend Moritz Schulrich's Kiel Institute has shown that it's probably delivered one of the largest percentages of its own arms to Ukraine, which is noble.
01:10:21But it's rather melian if you don't then replace those weapons with new ones and modern ones that meaningfully contribute to Europe's defense capabilities.
01:10:35You are so right, Yuri.
01:10:37Ukraine has become the defense force of the European Union.
01:10:43But where are the defense forces of the real European Union member states?
01:10:51It's unfortunate there are no German representatives here, because that's the key issue that nobody has yet touched on.
01:10:59Why is it that despite the fiscal commitments that have been made by the German government, which are, of course, an enormously important step, the pace of German rearmament is so painfully slow?
01:11:14Eric Schmidt is one of those people who's making a huge effort to scale Ukrainian drone production.
01:11:19Think what a difference it would make if Germany today announced Operation Warp Speed for German rearmament, huge new gigafactories to scale the technology that the Ukrainians have pioneered so that not just three or four million drones can be produced, but 10, 15 million drones.
01:11:46Nothing will change Putin's calculus more decisively than a meaningful increase in the pace of European rearmament.
01:11:56Speeches at Davos aren't going to do it, folks, no matter how passionate they are.
01:12:01But real and meaningful German rearmament, and I'll say also European rearmament, that's another matter.
01:12:08So I would urge my European friends, be a little less Melian, and a bit more Athenian, and let's send a signal that no Russian dictator will ever, ever be able to misunderstand.
01:12:23Because of your actions, President Putin, you have required, necessitated, something that the Germans hoped they would not have to do.
01:12:34And that is a very rapid rearmament, which I hope will lead a general European rearmament.
01:12:43If any of my European friends would like to comment on this, I would very much like to hear what they are doing to bring about Operation Warp Speed and a meaningful European military response to the Russian threat.
01:12:56Thanks very much.
01:13:00Thank you, Neil.
01:13:01Your European friends are indeed itching to comment on this.
01:13:05Mark Rutter is practically jumping out of his chair.
01:13:07Mark, the floor is yours.
01:13:09No, but thanks for the challenge.
01:13:10Of course, I speak for NATO, and NATO is 50% U.S., and the other 50% are the other 31 allies.
01:13:16But amongst them, of course, outside, next to Canada, we have 30 allies in Europe.
01:13:22I agree with your speech when it would be about weapons delivered to Ukraine.
01:13:27I agree what you said about Denmark and that they have delivered huge amounts of weapons to Ukraine, and many other countries also did.
01:13:34But it's not sustainable in the way it's going on now, because too many countries are not doing enough.
01:13:39There, I would agree with your speech.
01:13:41I do not agree with your speech when it comes to the rearmament of Europe, and particularly not Germany.
01:13:47And I'm going to defend them.
01:13:48Germany spent in 2021 70 billion of their annual budget on defense.
01:13:53By 2029, that will have been risen to 160 billion.
01:13:57I opened a factory in Unterluis in Germany, which is a factory providing with ammunition, 155 caliber.
01:14:07They have built that factory from nothing.
01:14:09There were ships grazing there to having that factory fully automated, opened in 14 months.
01:14:16Normally, it would take you 10 years to only get the paperwork in order.
01:14:19Now, in 14 months, from nothing to a full factory.
01:14:21This is what Germany is doing at the moment.
01:14:23They will massively grow their armed forces.
01:14:25And this is not only Germany.
01:14:27There's many countries.
01:14:28I agree with you when it comes to support for Ukraine.
01:14:30It has to be more spread.
01:14:32It cannot only be dependent on Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Germany, and a couple of other countries.
01:14:40There we need to have the burden sharing.
01:14:43But when it comes to the rearmament, I think what you said is right.
01:14:46We have to do it.
01:14:47But it is happening.
01:14:48And that's the good news.
01:14:49Prime Minister, you wanted also to add a comment.
01:14:53Just a short comment.
01:14:54And with a lot of appreciation for Nile and his thoughts and the comparison with the ancient Greek times.
01:15:02I think we have to be aware of one simple thing.
01:15:04One is to be at a country at war.
01:15:07And the other one is to be covered under the umbrella of collective security and peace.
01:15:12I'll tell you an example of a small country.
01:15:14We are looking forward for 800,000 men in Ukraine under arms after the peace deal.
01:15:22Croatia is a country of 4 million.
01:15:25During the time of the greater Serbian aggression and the occupation of our territories between 1991 and 1995,
01:15:31at the moment when the Croatian military forces liberated three quarters of, at the time, occupied territories,
01:15:39we had 200,000 men under arms.
01:15:42A country of 4 million.
01:15:44And we did it in a speedy manner of four days.
01:15:47Four days.
01:15:48Plus, under the arms embargo, for years, not a single bullet was bought legally.
01:15:57It was all smuggled.
01:15:59More expensive, more difficult, and still managed.
01:16:01That's why the Croatian, unfortunately, unique experience on the European continent is so worthy for Ukraine,
01:16:09especially the part of the peaceful reintegration of the occupied territories, which happened in 1998.
01:16:15And today, to give you an example, Mark was just in Zagreb last week.
01:16:20We are now undergoing a huge transition from the eastern military technology to the western one.
01:16:25And I don't want to enumerate everything that we have done, but we have new European French fighter jets,
01:16:32new German tanks coming, all sorts of American military equipment, helicopters,
01:16:39plus our own FPV drone production.
01:16:43One small company now became one of the important partners for Ukrainian military companies
01:16:50in assuring that there are enough FPV drones in Ukraine.
01:16:54So I think this is happening.
01:16:55Maybe it's not well emancipated, but it is happening.
01:16:58And, you know, depending on the size of the country, one can only do so much.
01:17:02And my final point, we really are fully aware of the suffering of the Ukrainian people.
01:17:09Our electricity companies, together with the Ukrainian electricity companies,
01:17:14we are now providing necessary equipment which was destroyed
01:17:17and is the one that was used in Ukraine before, and we still have it.
01:17:21So we want to help you to go along through this big suffering during the winter
01:17:26and a lot of respect to the Ukrainian soldiers and gratefulness for everything you have done
01:17:30for your country and for the freedom of Europe.
01:17:36I have a very long list of people who would like to speak,
01:17:40but I also see that it is 9 o'clock and you all have other engagements to go to.
01:17:43What I would propose is that I think we should end this breakfast
01:17:46by hearing from one more of the Ukrainian heroes.
01:17:49That is what this is ultimately about.
01:17:51So I'd like, if they're still here, to call on Alexei and Nulya.
01:17:54Are you here?
01:17:55And could you give us, to conclude, your assessment of the stakes?
01:18:01What are you fighting for?
01:18:02What are the stakes?
01:18:03What do we all need to leave this breakfast knowing?
01:18:08And Alexei will be speaking in Ukrainian, I think.
01:18:10I speak in language in Ukraine because please translate.
01:18:26Your English is excellent.
01:18:27I think you could continue in English.
01:18:28You could continue in English.
01:18:30It's very good.
01:18:31I was in captivity, and I can tell you that all abstract ideas disappear there.
01:18:43There's no geopolitics in captivity.
01:18:46There's no any long-term planning in captivity.
01:18:49But it is very clear, a message from Russia in captivity, what is freedom?
01:18:55Freedom is not a word on the slide.
01:18:59It's a possibility to say no, despite the torture act, despite the prohibition,
01:19:05the possibility to say truth and not being killed for that.
01:19:09When I came back to Ukraine, I had a clear understanding that the true solution,
01:19:19I had a clear decision that solutions can have the power and force
01:19:26only when there is a real price paid for that.
01:19:29When I saw my mother, who became a widow, or my children, who didn't recognize me,
01:19:36I saw that my brothers and sisters in arms are making an everyday choice to be free
01:19:44without knowing what will come tomorrow.
01:19:47Therefore, I can see that you are well-versed in geopolitics.
01:19:55You have a strategy, and you are doing everything you can for the security,
01:19:59and I am pleased to hear that some things are being called as they really are.
01:20:03Our path in life, our experience, therefore, is not about the pain.
01:20:15If each of your individual decisions will be more specific, more swift,
01:20:22and it will bring about security and peace to Ukraine, then I will be able to explain to my children
01:20:30that our path is not about a pain.
01:20:33It's about a sense, a common sense.
01:20:40Thank you so much.
01:20:42Those were powerful words with which to end on.
01:20:44Thank you to all of you for being here.
01:20:46Thank you, Victor, for once again bringing us all together.
01:20:56Yes.
01:20:57Minutes?
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