WEBVTT - US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith Talks Ukraine-Russia Conflict

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<v Speaker 1>I'm joined by the US Ambassador to NATO, Julian Smith,

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<v Speaker 1>joins me Hair on the program ahead of next week's

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<v Speaker 1>and NATO summit in Washington, d C. Ambassador, a pleasure

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<v Speaker 1>to have you on the program. Thank you so much.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to dive right into a question a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people on both sides of the Atlantic are asking, which

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<v Speaker 1>is sustainability of aid to Ukraine. From your perspective and

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<v Speaker 1>from your visibility, how long can we count on that?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, what I see here inside the NATO Alliance is

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<v Speaker 2>strong unity by all thirty two allies to keep supporting

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<v Speaker 2>our friends in Ukraine. This isn't just a case of

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<v Speaker 2>the US providing important economic, humanitarian and security assistance. This

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<v Speaker 2>is a case where all of our friends in NATO

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<v Speaker 2>are doing their fair share. And let me just note

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<v Speaker 2>that when Europeans in particular invest in capabilities to donate

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<v Speaker 2>to the Ukrainians, they often come to the United States

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<v Speaker 2>and purchase weapons and capabilities and assets from the US.

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<v Speaker 2>Because they're best in class. We can get them quickly

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<v Speaker 2>onto you into Ukraine, and the timelines for delivery are

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<v Speaker 2>rather short. So this is an investment first and foremost

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<v Speaker 2>in Ukraine. But I would note that the investments that

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<v Speaker 2>we're making their come back and pay dividends in the

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<v Speaker 2>United States as well.

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<v Speaker 1>You emphasize the investments in Europe. Right now, there's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of questions around how sustainable even that ramp up

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<v Speaker 1>in defenses from some of the NATO allies and of

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<v Speaker 1>course from each country's defense. I have his number here, say,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty three NATO allies are already at that two percent goal,

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<v Speaker 1>despite Russia outspending Europe. Are you satisfied with the progress

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<v Speaker 1>that Europe is making despite some of those political and

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<v Speaker 1>arguably financial hurdles that they're facing.

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<v Speaker 2>Ten years ago, allies came together and decided that every

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<v Speaker 2>member of the Alliance would spend two percent of their

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<v Speaker 2>own GDP on defense. When we made that pledge a

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<v Speaker 2>decade ago, actually there were only three allies that met

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<v Speaker 2>the target. So the big news that we have at

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<v Speaker 2>the NATO summit coming up next week is that we're

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<v Speaker 2>now at a point. Ten years later, we're twenty three

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<v Speaker 2>allies now spend two percent. Now, your question was is

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<v Speaker 2>that enough? Two points on that one, We've got to

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<v Speaker 2>make sure that we get to thirty two, and every

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<v Speaker 2>member of the Alliance has a plan in place to

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<v Speaker 2>get there. So in the next couple of years we're

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<v Speaker 2>going to face a situation where all members of the

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<v Speaker 2>Alliance spend two percent. But here's the other point I

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<v Speaker 2>would make. We have now multiple allies across the Alliance

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<v Speaker 2>spending more than two percent. We have countries in Eastern Europe,

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<v Speaker 2>the Nordic countries, the UK and others obviously the United

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<v Speaker 2>States that spend more than two percent. So not only

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<v Speaker 2>our allies meeting the commitment, they're stretching beyond it.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, they're also talking a lot about there at least

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<v Speaker 1>have been reports in the last forty eight hours or

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<v Speaker 1>so that NATO particularly is talking about a special station

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<v Speaker 1>in Kiev in particular, and is also talking about centralizing

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<v Speaker 1>some of those operations when it comes to training, when

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<v Speaker 1>it comes to troops, when it comes to weaponization. Can

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<v Speaker 1>you walk us through the significance of that.

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<v Speaker 2>Sure, So when we get to the summit next week,

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<v Speaker 2>we're going to have a couple of different deliverables for Ukraine.

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<v Speaker 2>One is that we are now here at NATO going

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<v Speaker 2>to take over the coordination of some of the assistants

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<v Speaker 2>that's flowing into Ukraine. We've had many years well two

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<v Speaker 2>years where many countries have come together to offer assistance

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<v Speaker 2>to Ukraine, and NATO is now going to be coordinating

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<v Speaker 2>all of those efforts to bring order to all of

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<v Speaker 2>the generous support being provided to them. NATO is also

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<v Speaker 2>going to take on the coordination of training. We have

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<v Speaker 2>a situation where many countries in Europe and the United

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<v Speaker 2>States are providing training, and now NATO is saying they

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<v Speaker 2>can coordinate those efforts again to bring greater coherence. In

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<v Speaker 2>addition to those two initiatives, we will also have most

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<v Speaker 2>likely a new senior civilian rep located in Kiev. This

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't mean that the coordination of assistance will happen in Ukraine,

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<v Speaker 2>but we will likely appoint someone to manage all of

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<v Speaker 2>the good work that we're doing with the Ukrainians on

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<v Speaker 2>modernizing their forces and building their future force from there

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<v Speaker 2>in Kiev.

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<v Speaker 1>Your predecessors Douglas Lute, Evo Dalder, as well the previous

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<v Speaker 1>ambassadors to NATO have said that this is a move

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<v Speaker 1>that basically trump proofs NATO, But in addition to doing that,

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<v Speaker 1>it also protects against the rise of the far right

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<v Speaker 1>that you're seeing in Europe. From your perspective, how dire

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<v Speaker 1>is that need right now?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, the new initiatives that I just mentioned for Ukraine

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<v Speaker 2>and are actually being put in place so that we

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<v Speaker 2>can bring greater coordination to all of the efforts that

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<v Speaker 2>have sprung up over the last two plus years. It's

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<v Speaker 2>not necessarily about guarding against political change. I mean, look,

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<v Speaker 2>the Alliance is seventy five years old and it has

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<v Speaker 2>dealt with many decades of political changes, different administrations coming

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<v Speaker 2>in on both sides of the Atlantic, so we can

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<v Speaker 2>cope with that irrespective of what happens. This is about

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<v Speaker 2>helping the efforts that are being provided to support Ukraine,

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<v Speaker 2>coordinating them and bring them all together under one roof.

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<v Speaker 2>And NATO feels like it has some institutional advantage in

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<v Speaker 2>doing that since it helped so many members in Eastern

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<v Speaker 2>Europe transition into the Alliance to become full fledged members

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<v Speaker 2>over the last twenty years. So modernizing, helping a country

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<v Speaker 2>modernize its forces is something that we know how to

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<v Speaker 2>do here in NATO HQ, and that's why NATO is

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<v Speaker 2>moving out with these new initiatives.

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<v Speaker 1>But Ambassador, for how long we're talking about the sustainability

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<v Speaker 1>of AID. I'm curious how long from your perspective Ukraine

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<v Speaker 1>is expected to need that kind of aid. Are we

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<v Speaker 1>talking about years here, a decade, months, what kind of timeframe.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, we can't predict with any certainty exactly how long

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<v Speaker 2>the war in Ukraine will last. But let's make one

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<v Speaker 2>thing clear. There's one person that started this war. That's

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<v Speaker 2>President Putin. He started this war two plus years ago.

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<v Speaker 2>He's the guy that could stop this war if he's

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<v Speaker 2>so desired. So we will work with the Ukrainians to

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<v Speaker 2>ensure that they have the assistance they need to defend

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<v Speaker 2>their territory. But we will also work with the people

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<v Speaker 2>of Ukraine towards peace and support the efforts that they've

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<v Speaker 2>undertaken in recent months to move towards some sort of

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<v Speaker 2>negotiated settlement.

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<v Speaker 1>And Ambassador, a final question to you on the cooperation

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<v Speaker 1>between Russia and China, in particular, not only when it

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<v Speaker 1>comes to Ukraine, but an access as being formed, perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>in response to NATO as well. How preventable is that?

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<v Speaker 1>From your perspective? Is can anything be done to counteract it?

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<v Speaker 2>We spend a lot of time here at NATO headquarters

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<v Speaker 2>talking about the deepening relationship between the PRC and Russia.

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<v Speaker 2>China takes every effort every chance it can get to

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<v Speaker 2>argue that somehow it's a neutral player in this war

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<v Speaker 2>in Ukraine. But in reality, the PRC is providing a

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<v Speaker 2>long list of dual use components, things like machine tools

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<v Speaker 2>and microelectronics that are enabling Russia to pursue this war

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<v Speaker 2>of aggression in Ukraine. So here inside NATO, we're making

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<v Speaker 2>sure that we can expose the fact that the PRC

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<v Speaker 2>is no longer a neutral player and warr in China

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<v Speaker 2>about the risks of getting behind Russia in this unprovoked

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<v Speaker 2>war of aggression.