♪♪ cox supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row to democracy. coming up, a conversation about priority for the united states u.s. ambassador to nato and defense minister. they talk about russia ukraine for and other global security challenges the discussion by the atlantic council. ♪♪ >> good morning and welcome the atlantic council for today's, priorities but the 2024 nato summit in washington. my name is matthew, vice president and director center for strategy and security. north atlantic alliance 75 years

old, there's much to celebrate all the lines more united than ever before. in, highly capable militaries, or special with a suite of the transplant dr. decades of underinvestment, nato european allies random support of ukraine recognition of the fence. causes of celebration are environment including russia's illegal for a russian against ukraine in a collection of masters summit. year' summit. so securing the future of the most successful alliance will require this year's summit to be one of implementation. come july, n.a.t.o. will be expected to take action for the underequipped industrial base and frank and demonstration of plans for new challenges including respond the area

responsibility. how will this feature in the washington summit agenda? what will allies need to deliver to assure the alliance is able to defend every inch of n.a.t.o. territory. today's discussion will be preview ahead of what is expected to be a pivotal summit offering the transatlantic alliance and decision makers, tans tangible courses of action. the summit is in less than 100 days, stay tuned for even more of us over the coming weeks-- more from us. and sustainable nonpartisan strategies to address the most important security challenges facing the united states and its allies. the center honors the general's service and body of ethos of nonpartisan commitment of cause

and allies and partners, and dedication to the mentorship of the next generation of leaders. joining us today to share their perspectives includes minister of national defense for the republics and lithuania. and the julianne smith, an ambassador to the united states, and an ambassador of the ukraine to the united states. and ambassador the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for euro asian affairs. and deputy chief of mission of charges of affair at the embassy republic of germany to the united states and mr. james rosco deputy head of mission at the british embassy in washington. the atlantic council would like to thank the lithuanian department of defense, our partners in the conference,

we're shaping the future together with allies and partners. nowhere is our mission more important than conversations like this one. throughout today's discussions there will be time to ask questions in person or via ac.org. we encourage you to join the conversation, #stronger with allies. i'd like to turn to the minister for remarks. the minister appointed to the position in march of 2024 and previously served on the national security and defense security of the lithuanian department. it's our distinct pleasure to host him on his first visit to the united states. the floor is yours. welcome. [applause] >> thank you very much. lithuanian minister of defense

is looking forward to the council and looking forward to a deeper one. so, about upcoming summits, about russia and about the eastern flanks. first of all, i would say a few words about russia's capabilities as potential now to challenge n.a.t.o.'s eastern flank. i think last year we had some movement in the proceedings. and underestimating russia's ability to adapt. what we need to say, two things, russia with their economy and their war both, and many examples when they are moving forward. for example, before the war in

ukraine, they produced 3, 400,000, now producing 2.2 million. it is despite sanctions and despite our attempts. so, we are on the war mode. sometimes we are hearing the questions, okay. but it cannot last long in that such kind of mode, but i think sometimes we apply western criteria, western thinking criteria to russia and it's not adequate because we don't hear about the social welfare. we don't care about any social things of society because society is manipulated, society is socially engineered. and of course, because of opportunity and regime. so when you want to understand

rush is a you should not apply western thinking. and it's not necessarily the strategy thinking of russia. second thing which we also saw, so-called mobilization reserve and create a so call-- -- paying for people in russia and attract them to war. and 25 million, this is the number when we ask how many mobilizations russia can have, 25 million, compared to us and compared to ukraine, which is a big number. this is what we need to understand, we are preparing. the problem is, that when we try to tackle this challenge, we always we're counting how many years we need, three, five, seven, you know, many interpretations, many countings. i think we should change that

approach. we should build our defense in that mode and manner in eastern flank in the whole of n.a.t.o. to control the process. so do not recount their years, but to control the process and to deter them. that's why n.a.t.o. decisions are so important. and i want to say what their moves and actions and directions, after madrid world summit, i think it's in a positive one. it's a positive one. first of all, of course, new defense plans. i think it's a breakthrough. so we transform from deterrence by punishment concept to deterrence by denial. especially after european when

you say there is nothing to take back. we need to fight on the line and we need to be ready to fight on the line and deter on the line. that's why we need to have a credible defense in and based on principles forward defense. and the plans, together with enforcement is a good direction to act. we need to tackle still the problems, as you know, capability gaps, air defense, many capabilities, long strike capabilities, but little by little we are moving forward. it's secure, and important for us eastern flank will be much more flexible responding to risk. when the capability is showed whatever crisis coming, we need to react for veterans. not fighting forward as russia,

but to deter them. that's why we need flexible decisions, flexible response and more authority, more power for security is very, very important and i will say, we also moving little by little toward this direction. we need exercises based on article five. with the transatlantic reenforcement, i think it's also would be very important. so acceptability of the defense plans. this is number one what we need, what we need to do. second thing, second point, is of course, defense investment and defense production. i will not say anything, you know it very well. we're trying and also europe is trying. we increased our production about 50%. we of course, europe is not on the war stage economy, but we're trying to find the

solutions. also lithuania, also in europe. we agreed with 2% is only for different spending and we should try to transform the money into the capabilities. how to do it in a faster way, it's still a big, big challenge because even now, you have contract somewhere for ammunition, for the weapons, even if you have the money now, it comes in four years. it's not like in russia, as we know. ... >> so of course the defense industrial base, we should

improve here as much as possible. talking about defense architecture, i should mention i think very important decision made by germany and lithuania. we have germany roadmap implement a step-by-step your i think it's a role model eastern flank countries for what kind of forward defense architecture we should build in eastern flank. but, of course, it was only the united states of america, in europe in eastern flank. so that's why when we are doing with the germany, the same, your presence -- troops and baltics in lithuania is vital for us. it's a vital factor of defense. you know, , i can see even one

joke. i have -- with many -- not the baltics, senior expert analyst and some generals from western countries. and then my colleague from nordic countries, like questions who's stronger? tiger or a leopard or something like this. he tells me, which army in europe is the strongest? the general said america. no, no. in europe. we know america is the strongest. no, he said, america. so even in europe, american forces is the strongest forces. so that's why america is so vital for security. but, of course, as you see you are also investing in our defense, taking responsibility, taking actions also important.

and i think germany is doing great job in eastern flank. third point, air defense. we need to great antiquated system. we know very well in our defense capabilities has a good deficit in nato. so producing the air defense, long-range, medium-range, short range, it's vital. that's why know we and lithuania also a little bit shifting our priorities i would say. we're trying to make have here, creating the tank battalions step-by-step it also investing more into a middle range air defense system which could help to defend not only are armories but our citizens in the cities as we see in ukraine how it is vital. fourth thing, thinking about defense architecture, its

ukrainian aspirations. we know very well. [speaking ukrainian] fighting not only for themselves, their fighting for europe. and just ask for ammunition. they're not asking for troops, so give them tools to fight and to control and to contain the empire. it's so simple. it's like if you want, do not send the troops summative and the native country, most cheapest way to give weapons and ammunition to ukraine. simple as that. it's that simple and political situation embassy. talking about nato and ukraine relations, i know it's difficult. at the same time we should not give to russia informal power on nato. no foreign country should have

such kind of right. should also be based on that assumption. fifth point, it's nato in the pacific. i think the processes and the situations are interconnected. and i think we should also do more in close cooperation between two regions, especially thinking how to contain and control the authoritarian regimes reach which are interconnected between themselves as an over well. so those of the main five points, and for the last thing but also i would say important one, i want to talk about puzzle which called escalation de-escalation thinking. i know that sometimes very much restrict some moves especially

in the nato, thinking that support to ukraine. you know, doing nothing is -- we should put in mind because it is russia. if you will just, you know, think that you will not do anything, they will consider but as it's peaceful. you know it very well so that's why escape from this best buy active sometimes also the dilemma. we have a dilemma for this program. thank you. f i'm not.

>> i know you have schedule but i think we have time for a few questions i want to start with threat environment because i think united states might think russia turned out to be we got. foolish enough to attack a nato ally anytime soon but your on the frontline. can you check the realities of security adulation on the russian threat. >> if you look now before the war but i know what these courses are. a new form in this direction to

22 of december at the division level. if you lookk at the personal level the war industry is not sophisticated. and that hundred they can do it here. ... on of course is defense which i talked a little bit. another important factor is belarus. we don't see belarus as independent country. it's already integrated in

domains of russia, especially military terms. and also i remember one conversation with some also i remember some ukrainians before the war. one of the key ukrainians at that time russia could use after to attack. he went too saying president, could you guarantee the russians will not use the territory? he said yes after the evening of some drinks he asked the same question. and told him i will inform you and 48 hours. it was in 2014 i do not know much now. that is why we do not see them country it's an important factor. but of course another special

problem no notice. you talk about conventional threat so of course intelligence we have capabilities of the early warning system. but for note noticed with some hybrid things the low apply. we should also be careful of those kinds of things. it was instrumentalist immigration.n. it pushed people to our borders. so such kind of the scenarios could be various. we need to be ready for that. >> that makes sense pretty talked about the need to have the prophet defense and deterrence and architecture the summit last year the new regional plans were agreed to. i'm the first serious nato plans

are good but since the beginning of the cold war. there's been a public reporting we don't yet have the capabilities that we need for these plans. do we have what we need to defend if not what's the biggest gaps? >> i think we have but we have some gaps. heavier divisions so it's tanks, artillery systems, deep strike capability. we have eight list of so-called gaps but it's gaps we should control. if we are moving forward i think we can find the solutions. but here are the most important thing in america and europe. we security of europe is impossible. that is why we are doing our self we know we should invest in our defense. our aim is 3%.

we see in the baltics 3% is a flaw. we will achieve it this year. that is why we are doing a lot of things. but, at the same time we are sending a message to the united states. we need you also. the president of the united states is the biggest and most credible factor. quickset had the opportunity to meet with the commanders on the ground there. i think that is really powerful to have that visible manifestation of american power there on the ground. so, a biggest summit coming up the 75th anniversary of nato. people are debating what should the priorities be? fromen lithuania's appointed viw what are the major priorities for the summit? what would you like to see is the main deliverables coming out of the summit? >> filling the t gaps.

because of nato we need to mobilize more sources. and of course ukraine. of course ukraine. >> can you say more? of course ukraine. ikwhat would you like to see? great. i have many more questions for looking at the clock i think we have come to the end of our time. any brief thoughts you'd like to leave the audience? >> just to thank you. and thank the united states in historical terms for our nation. america and helping in our freedom fighting is so crucial. that is why you ask lithuanians most close tois lithuania supporting they would

have more. and be safe together, thank you for. >> wonderful. thank you also to lithuania. burden sharing is becoming a political issue in the united states. and so it is great to see allies like lithuania are more than pulling their weight. thank you very much for taking the time with us this morning. we really appreciate your insights look forward to continuing these critical discussions in the months leading up to the washingtonsi summit. now it is time to transition to our next segment. i'll turn the microphone to philip dickinson is leading our transatlantic security initiative. [applause] thank you very much.

thank you minister for sharing lithuania's perspective. lithuania is a vital ally and we really appreciate you sharing your thoughtful perspectives as they make the transition to washington. my name is phil dickinson and the acting director of the transatlantic security initiative here in the center for strategy and security. continued with our program will shift our focus to brussels. a brief pause wait for the ambassador honorable juliann smith u.s. ambassador to nato in brussels senior congressional reporter with punch bowl news. we will be back in just one moment.

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[background noises] ♪ ♪ ♪ thank you very much welcome back everybody. we are pleased to turn to the next session which is a speaker spotlight discussion the honorable juliann smith u.s. ambassador to nato. moderated by andrew, senior congressional reporter with punch bowl d news.

>> thank you very much. thank you very much for joining us here in person as well as on the live stream for today's event. back to business birthday priorities for the 2024 nato summitit here in washington. my name is andrew i'm the senior congressional reporter for punch bowl c news where we cover the power, people and politics that drive the decision making in our nation capitol specifically on capitol hill. i'm delighted to be joined this morning or this afternoon for d her, the honorable juliann smith of the united states permanent representative to nato for a conversation about u.s. priorities heading into the summit here in washington. ambassador, thank you very much for taking the time to join us today. we really appreciate it. i want to note at the outset you are confirmed by the united states senate in november of 2021 by a voice vote. i know you had to wait a little bit to get the final confirmation done.

my voice vote in the united states senate. obviously we know in today's today senatevoice votes for dipc nominees are very few and far between. i wanted to mention that that at the outset it prior to senate confirmation bassett or smith was a senior advisor to secretary blinken at the state e department. deputy national security advisor to then vice president joe biden. with that, i want to dive right in ambassador.nk i'll think there's any doubt nato is stronger today than it has ever been. certainly bigger than it has ever been you talk about the secession of two new member nations. of course thebe alliance celebrated 75th anniversary this year. celebrate we can. there are some serious challenges as well that are topg of mind for you and the work that you do and brussels. ssfor one, ukraine is at a pivol point right now and it's worth russia. there is uncertainty about ukraine mount membership and

geopolitical uncertainty with elections happening onn both sides of the atlantic this year that could have real impacts on the alliance as a whole. with that backdrop i'd likeh to gett you to talk about how you define y success at this years year'snato summit there will presumably be questions about the longevity of the western coalition supporting ukraine. >> thank you for the invitation but it's great to join in this morning on the other side of the pond virtually wish i could be there in person. but alas the virtual connection will have to do. in terms of the upcoming summit in july i think i would define success in three main baskets. first and foremost as you said at the top this is in essence eight celebration at its very heart. we are marking 75 years working together with our allies in the nato alliance. over seven decades irrespective

of their political affiliation supporting and leading this alliance. we expect that to continue. it will be eight celebration thinking about the alliance agility, adaptability, brilliance in the face of new challenges. that is success number one but making sure we take a minute to mark the moment, mark 75 years of working closely with our allies in all the alliance has been able to achieve over seven plus decades. basket number two in terms of success is marking a moment in terms of burden sharing. ten years ago allies agreed to spend 2% of their gdp on defense. we made that pledge three allies were spending 2% on gdp. today at last count we are at least at 20. maybe it will get one or two more before the summit occurs. we will be at the point we can

celebrate two thirds the 2% pledge. my guess of 32. in the years ahead we will be getting more and more allies. mwe are marching toward that dy when every member of the alliance will at 2%. it's a big part of what we talk about at the summit. we talk about burden shortly don't mean to percent we are talking about what we are allut doing together to support our friends in ukraine. that brings me to the last category in terms of marking success. having the opportunity to welcome president zelenskyy to washington to stand with 32 other leaders to lock arms with him make sure moscow understands a single message. that is nato allies are not

going anywhere. we are not distracted but we are not looking away. we are not growing impatient. we will stand with ukraine for as long as it takes. that message of solidarity, of resolve, of unity around what is happening in ukraine will be a key feature of the summit. and of course we are working right now on an actual deliverable for ukraine which we might want to get into per our discussion. celebrating 75 years ensuring we help the world understand how important burden sharing is and how far we have come inside the alliance on that front. making sure russia understands we are already to continue supporting our friends in ukraine. all of that wood part of a successful summit. >> he mentioned a deliverable for ukraine.

to the extent you can and also note atlantic council senior fellow recently wrote this year's assignment should grant ukraine a clear path to nato membership. do you agree with that? and if so what needs to happen specifically this year's summit in order to make that happen? >> first at the top, limit state nato allies have a crystal-clear been clear since 2008 ukraine will become a member of the alliance. we reaffirmed that last year when we said ukraine's future place is in nato. we were not prepared last summer to extend a proper invitation to ukraine and i am not expecting the alliance the summer. what i am expecting alice to do is construct a bridge a

deliverable that will allow them to come closer to thehe allianc. the w hike met a couple weeks ao to come to the table sit at the table discuss whatever's on their mind and this moment were able to talk to president zelenskyy about his very reals defense requirements. what they need right now in real time. we already created last summer you will see more news and with the allies are prepared to unveil this summer at the summit. i cannot go to a lot of detail looking at a way to institutionalize is been provided to ukraine over the last two years regret as you know last week sent a ukraine

aid package to president biden's desk it took several months it took many iterations. it does not take a political science is to conclude support for ukraine at least and congress has gone down but much of it is driven by the far right as it is with other countries as well. you mention transatlantic unity and highlighting that at this year's summit. what else can be done here into washington in july to counteract this forces? >> we are not waiting for july. we collectively the allies them selves and the united states we are all working together to get a message out. we are getting a message out to the importance of this alliance. why, it was important that we created it 75 years ago. but also to help americans and publics on the other side nato was created in a different era it was prepared for different threats it was much smaller.

their only 12 founding members. we are almost triple that with 32 membert states. we don't just limit ourselves to our work here in terms of conventional military threats. this alliance day in and day out looks at a variety of threats that cross a full definition of security challenges and threats. they represent our work on cyber attacks. emerging and disruptive technology. resilience. women, peace, insecurity, i can go on and on are working hard on defense production. what was once an alliance that focused primarily on conventional military threats now isn't alliance that copes with and addresses the full spectrum of security challenges as defined by the 32 allies. we have been working through

public messaging campaigns to get that word out to answer tough questions from students, from veterans groups, fromfr the private sector but from small-town mayors and governors. rsi've been out myself traveling across the united states but so haveni many of our allies. they have made special trips to places like iowa and texas and alabama and beyond. we have to broaden the conversation we are having in the united states about why we created nato and why it is important 75 yearsll later. this is an ongoing conversation that we are having with a variety of audiences. you will see that engagement carried through right up to the summit and in fact beyond. quick to shoot no ambassador in the observermb group is very active on all of the things you just mentioned. in a recent letter to president by the cochairs of that group's sediment shaheen of new hampshire in thom tillis of north carolina wrote this year's

summit should feature quote a recognition of a stronger nato partnership with allies in the end of pacific. one of the things that stood out to mee having attended the last two nato summits in madrid as well as last year was the presence of the foreign leaders from end of pacific nations. they are really engaged on the bigger picture security challenges particular ukraine even though china is the pacing threat in their own backyard for example the japanese prime minister said the best way to deter president xi from launching an invasion of taiwan is to defeat putin in ukraine. a lot of people on capitol hill including mitch mcconnell the senate republican leaders say things like deterrent is not divisible. you cannot allow putin to run roughshod over ukraine but credibly say you want to deter china from going into taiwan. can you talk a little bit about

the involvement of end of pacific nation in nato as a whole? what you expected the july's summit in that respect? can you talk about why it is important to have them at the table? >> thanks for that, absolutely. nato has four indo pacific partners those are japan, the republic of korea, australia, and new zealand. these are four countries that have spent recent years moving closer to the natocl alliance. not because any of them are talking about a global alliance or joining it as a proper member.. but because as a partners they value the opportunity to exchange of best practices and insights on a variety of challenges no geographic limits. we are talking to our friends in the end of pacific about seeing what it's like maintaining our technological edge to print about protecting ourselves

deterring cyber attacks. we are talking with them about disinformation campaigns, stemming both from the prc and from russia with those two countries are learning from one another. those four indo pacific partners find real value in exchanges with nato allies and similarly i can assure you the allies here find real value in exchanging ideas and best practices with those four countries. on top of iton though most of te end of pacific partners have provided valuable assistance to our friends in ukraine. whether it is economic assistance, humanitarian assistance or security assistance they are doing that because they understand ukrainians are not just fighting to preserve their own territorial integrity. they are in fact protecting and trying to preserve the key tenets of the un charter and that gets right back to the question of sovereignty. i will also note the alliance is

increasingly talking about with the prc is doing in and around the euro atlantic area this is a creeping thing a topic of conversation here and said that nato alliance.id we are doing a lot more work in this space. and as we look at that challenge we can no doubt learn about our friends from the end of pacific and figure out how they have coped with similar challenges in their own region. so if i had to guess i would suspect once again we will see the four and a pacific partners join us at the washington summit. nothing has been finalized yet. i think after having them presentnt join us again at the washington summit part stay tuned on that front. a set of relationships i think all nato allies not just the united states.

all nato allies find tremendous value in the pickwick something important at the outset is edge of burden sharing. note 2014 summit was a critical moment for the alliance. it effectively set the 2% benchmark in terms of defense spending as a percentage of gdp. much of the alliance is still lagging behind that benchmark compared to what extent do you believe this year's summit should address the shortfall? or maybe double down on it? to meet that benchmark as high as possible. cooks i would note for your audience you use the word most, most allies meet the 2% that includes countries like germany, norway. this a lot of breaking news out there. at least 20 if not more are going to hit the 2% mark. the majority of folks are there. that leaves a handful of allies that are not yet there.

i will say it does allies have plans in place to get the 2% in two or three years. we will push it we have pushed in recent years. we will push as hard as we can to ensure all the allies get there. i need to say something else. that is a last year at the summit as a floor not a ceiling regional plans the first time in decades detailed military plans on what it takes to defend every inch of nato territory in order to realize those plans we are slowly reaching the conclusion that 2% will not be enough. that is why some that are in the 2% camp have moved on to 2.5 -- 3% in the case of poland inching

towards 4%. allies are not waiting for a boon else to catch up. we have a number of allies udincluding some of our nordic friends. the united kingdom just made an announcement about their desire to get 2.5%. romania at 2.5. so a number of allies are moving out on stretching be on the 2% to ensure we can replenish our stocks from the valuable assistance we provide to ukraine over the last two years and keep giving ukraine additional forms of security assistance. so, this is generally a good news story but will be will be sure to give her foot on the gas to ensure every nato member meets its commitment to get to 2%. but we are well on our way. >> with that we're out of time unfortunately but ambassador smith, thank you very much for joining us here today. thank you to the elected council for ho