NATO Secretary General summarizes results of Madrid Summit at press conference. As he said, members of the Alliance will meet again for a NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2023.

“We have just concluded a transformative Summit with NATO’s Heads of State and Government. With far-reaching decisions to adapt our Alliance for the future. We agreed on a fundamental shift in our deterrence and defence. We agreed to invite Finland and Sweden to join our Alliance. And we agreed on long-term support for Ukraine.

We agreed NATO’s new Strategic Concept. We agreed to step up in the fight climate change. And to establish a new one billion Innovation Fund. We agreed to invest more in NATO and to increase NATO’s common funded budgets. And we agreed to deepen our relationships with some of the Alliance’s closest partners, not least in the Indo-Pacific.

We also addressed the global food crisis, which is a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The impact is severe. Including on some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Food prices are hitting record highs. And many countries depend on Ukraine for substantial wheat and other food imports. So Allies discussed their efforts to mitigate the crisis. And get grain out of Ukraine, by land and on sea.

We also addressed how Russia and China continue to seek political, economic, and military gain across our southern neighbourhood. Both Moscow and Beijing are using economic leverage, coercion, and hybrid approaches to advance their interests in the region.

The decisions we have taken in Madrid will ensure that our Alliance continues to preserve peace, prevent conflict, and protect our people and our values.

So we decided today to support Ukraine, to make sure that Ukraine prevails as an independent sovereign state in Europe. And President Putin"s brutal war against Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable. It"s causing a lot of death, damage for the Ukrainian people, but it also has ramifications over the whole world, not least because of the increase in food prices. So it"s President Putin that should withdraw its forces and end this war immediately by stopping attacking a democratic sovereign nation and causing so much suffering in Ukraine.

When it comes to Finland and Sweden. Finland and Sweden are sovereign nations and they have the right to choose their own path and to join NATO. We have welcomed them into our Alliance. We are, of course, prepared for any eventuality. But at the same time, I think what we see now in Ukraine demonstrates that Russia is now fully focused on that war, and therefore, also… We are also taking note of messages from Moscow actually, that it doesn"t change that much that Finland and Sweden are joining the Alliance. While they have communicated different messages from Moscow on that issue, the most important thing for us is that Finland and Sweden will become members of the Alliance. We are there to protect all Allies, and of course also Finland and Sweden. And we are prepared for all eventualities”, - said Jens Stoltenberg.