Brussels, 3 April 2025 (MIA) – Key security challenges, support and future prospects for Ukraine, strengthening partnerships and defence capacities and preparations for the NATO Summit in The Hague in June will be the main topics of the two-day meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Timcho Mucunski.

The meeting will start with a North Atlantic Council session, after which the foreign ministers of NATO member states will be joined by their partners in the Indo-Pacific region – Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.

The first day of the meeting will conclude with a formal session of the NATO-Ukraine Council, held as a working dinner, where Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, will brief on the current situation in the country and the prospects for achieving a just and lasting peace.

The sessions are set to include the participation of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, who will also have a separate meeting with NATO foreign ministers during the session on Friday.

Addressing media ahead of the meeting, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte highlighted increased defence investment as a key agenda item and critical to the Alliance’s future success.

“We will focus on strengthening our collective defence” he said, emphasising that “it is the foundation on which NATO was built, and it remains our number one priority.”

“NATO Allies continue our support to Ukraine. I commend President Trump for breaking the deadlock and I fully support the efforts undertaken by the US to bring this terrible war to a just and lasting end. As well as the efforts of the UK, France, and others to contribute to ensuring a lasting peace when the time comes,” Rutte said.

“The threat we face from Russia remains and Russia continues to work closely with China, Iran, and North Korea in ways that not only harm Ukraine but pose risks across the Alliance and around the world. We see these and other actors working to destabilise our societies with sabotage to undersea infrastructure, cyber-attacks, assassination attempts, and more,” he noted.

He underlined that we live in a dangerous world and in the face of these and other challenges, we must build a stronger, a fairer and more lethal NATO.  

“We are grateful to the men and women of our armed forces for the service they provide every day. And we were reminded of the risks of that service again this week – having tragically lost four brave American soldiers during training in Lithuania. We are profoundly grateful for their service. Our deepest condolences go to their families, friends, and fellow soldiers. We mourn their loss and take heart in the outstanding solidarity we saw during the search and rescue operation with Americans and Lithuanians, Poles and Estonians working shoulder-to-shoulder around the clock. This is the true spirit of the Alliance and in that spirit, we have important work to take forward,” Rutte said.

He underscored the need of building a more capable Alliance by investing in what we need to counter the threats we face, and we are making major progress. Many Allies are stepping up their spending in ways we haven’t seen in decades and I expect more announcements to follow.

“This is critical. Ministers will talk about how to ensure we can continue this trend. We will also discuss how we can produce more – on both sides of the Atlantic and make it easier to work together – exchange, innovate, and partner in ways that benefit us all,” Rutte said, adding that partners make an essential contribution to our shared security. Sharing insights, experience, and expertise.

“All of this and more will contribute to the new chapter for NATO that we will start in The Hague in June. Our priorities are clear, we are building a stronger, fairer and more lethal Alliance - that’s what we need to secure our future,” Rutte said.

Photo: MIA archive/NATO