We, the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland,
Spain and the United Kingdom, have come together today,
recognizing that our common security is challenged as never
before in our lifetimes.
Russia is systematically attacking European security
architecture.
For the last 1,000 days, in its war of aggression against
Ukraine, Russia has killed many thousands and repeatedly violated
international law.
Russia‘s reckless revisionism and constant refusal to stop the
aggression and engage in meaningful talks challenges peace,
freedom and prosperity on the European continent and in the
transatlantic area.
Russia is increasingly reliant on partners such as Iran and North
Korea in order to sustain its illegal warfare.
Moscow's escalating hybrid activities against NATO and EU
countries are also unprecedented in their variety and scale,
creating significant security risks.
To live up to this historic challenge, we are determined to stand
united with our European and transatlantic partners to think and
act big on European security. European countries must play a
still greater role in assuring our own security, acting alongside
our transatlantic and global partners.
Today, we therefore consider it imperative to:
-
reaffirm the enduring role of a strong and united NATO as a
bedrock of European defence and security, based on a strong
transatlantic bond, an ironclad commitment to defend each
other, and fair burden-sharing;
-
strengthen NATO by stepping up our security and defence
expenditure, in line with our previous commitments, while
reaffirming that, in many cases, expenditure beyond 2% of GDP
will be needed to address rising threats to security and meet
the requirements to deter and defend across all domains in
the Euro-Atlantic area.
-
strengthen Europe's security and defence, using all levers
available to us, including the economic and financing power
of the European Union and by reinforcing Europe's industrial
base. To this aim, we will build on the work in NATO, the
European Union, among groups of Allies and with likeminded
countries, discuss innovative financing, and remove obstacles
to defence trade and investment;
-
invest in our critical military capabilities, including air
defence, deep precision strikes, drones and integrated
logistics, as well as in critical infrastructure and cyber
defence, while investing in research and development, and
using new technologies;
-
enhance resilience to cognitive warfare and hybrid threats in
Europe, also through the relevant EU mechanisms, and promote
the resilience of our societies,
-
further step up our military, economic and financial support
for Ukraine, while welcoming the 50 billion dollar G7 loan to
ensure that Ukraine has sufficient resources for the next
year;
-
remain steadfast in our support for a just and lasting peace
for Ukraine, based on the UN Charter, reaffirming that peace
can only be negotiated with Ukraine, with European, American
and G7 partners by its side, and in making sure that the
aggressor will bear consequences, also financial ones, of its
illegal acts that violate rules set out in the UN Charter,
-
continue deterring Russia, thwarting Putin's ability to
sustain his war of aggression, and constraining the build-up
of Russia's military capabilities, including through
restrictive measures.
We underline our steadfast commitment to a European security
architecture based on the principles of the UN Charter and the
OSCE, which have been gravely violated by Russia in recent years.
We are convinced that this is the moment when we must deliver and
ensure that our citizens live in peace, freedom and prosperity.
To this end, further integration between the EU member states,
closer cooperation between the EU and the UK, and enhanced
cooperation between NATO and the European Union will be key. We
consider this also a unique opportunity to renew the foundations
of our transatlantic relations with the United States of America
by strengthening NATO and ensuring fair burden sharing within the
Alliance.
