Welcome back to Sunday night in America.
NATO has been around since most of us have been
around.
This alliance was forged in the aftermath of World War
2.
Agreements were made by countries of good conscience to defend
one another from what was then called an Axis of
Evil.
3 Malevolent forces joined together to disrupt the world order.
The countries may change over the course of history,
but the battle remains. It's good versus evil,
freedom versus tyranny. A world led by the United States
or a world led by others.
Under Article Five of the treaty,
should a member nation be attacked,
other members will help. It's been invoked once
by us, after 911, and member nations did what they
said they would do.
They came to our defense.
NATO is larger now. Russia's invasion of Ukraine no doubt
played a role in Sweden and Finland deciding to join.
But Ukraine is not a member.
Ukraine wants to be a member,
but is not. Ukraine is however,
a buffer between Russia and other NATO countries,
which means Ukraine may well be a buffer between our
soldiers fighting Russian soldiers in Eastern Europe.
It is true the US is not treaty bound to
defend Ukraine,
but there is a belief that helping Ukraine defend itself
now actually keeps the US out of a broader war.
And then, of course, there's the old fashioned notion that
it's just the right thing to do
to help a smaller nation defend itself against an unprovoked
attack from a bully.
Congress recently passed an aid package which included money for
Ukraine.
And like everything else these days,
it was controversial. Ukraine may lose this war.
Even with the help Ukraine will most assuredly lose the
war without it.
Did the help come too late?
Joining us now is Mirsa Juana,
the Deputy Secretary General of NATO.
Welcome, Sir. Thank you for joining us.
Give us your take on the war in Eastern Europe
and whether the aid for Ukraine
came too late.
I was in Washington DC in the Senate when
the legislation was passed. And of course the delay in
adopting such important legislation created some impact on the battlefield.
But if believe this is not decisive.
We believe that with the help of all allies and
partners of Ukraine in NATO and outside of NATO,
the US support is roughly 50%
of the aggregate support coming from other allies in supporting
Ukraine.
And as we are a little bit probably over optimistic
a few months back at the beginning of the Ukrainian
counter offensive,
we should also avoid to be over pessimistic at this
point in time.
It's a more delicate time in in on the battlefield.
But we know that with our help and with the
resilience and bravery of Ukrainians,
they will be able to to extend
and in the end prevail in this war.
Because their war is also our war,
as you rightly said. In fact,
they're fighting our fight against a bully,
against an aggressor. And also,
let's not forget that others like China are watching
how things are developing in Ukraine
and they're actively watching and drawing lessons from what we
do or we don't do.
But I'm confident that Ukraine will prevail,
and I think that our support is well deserved
for this brave nation in Europe.
And also an example to the rest of the world.
You mentioned something that I I think necessitate to follow
up.
Americans hear a lot about member contributions to the common
cause of NATO.
So are other NATO countries stepping up?
You mentioned the statistic 50%,
but I'll just ask you,
are they stepping up for the common defense under NATO?
And and more specifically with respect to Ukraine,
there's this notion that it's the US doing it alone.
But when I hear you speak,
it's actually exactly as it was intended.
Other countries are helping too.
Yes, they do. And probably we should do a better
job ourselves,
communicating better to the US Congress,
to the American public opinion,
to to to American International media.
All nations in NATO do support Ukraine.
I give you a a an example of Iceland.
They don't have an army and they still are putting
a disposal of transportation,
you know airport and and and and this is something
that happens from small and big allies in NATO
as not forget there are close to 50 nations,
not only the US, not only NATO,
other nations are also supporting Ukraine from the Indo Pacific.
The nations that are really believing in democracy and the
fight of Ukraine is just
and when we add up,
not only military support but there is also a lot
of macroeconomic and financial support.
Ukraine, there's also money also speak about humanitarian systems for
Ukraine.
There are lots of refugees.
There are lots of people with kids
that that European nations are taking care of.
This is also costing money.
So if you put on aggregate,
I think that America plays a big,
big, big role, but is far from being alone.
Each of us are doing our part.
Each of us do understand that this is a common
struggle for freedom,
for democracy and for norms
in this, in this very convoluted world we are living
in.
Before I let you go,
listen. On a happier note
there there's an arms race,
but there's also a technology race.
What is NATO doing and how is NATO doing and
the competition to attract and retain the best and brightest
minds as it relates to technology?
Listen, I chair innovation in NATO and we are just
harnessing the immense
innovation ecosystem across our great alliance and also our partners.
You see, you see, you see the the science behind
me.
I'm now at Purdue University,
one of the leading engineering universities.
Yesterday I was at MIT in Boston.
We have 140 different places around the alliance working on
innovation for our security and for our freedom.
NATO is also the first organization in the world that
was putting together.
We are now operating a NATO Innovation Fund,
the first multinational sovereign venture capital fund in NATO 32
nations.
Now with Sweden the latest and the newest
camera into NATO. We have more than 50%
of global GDP in NATO.
We have more than 50%
of global defense spending in NATO.
We are a formidable force.
So This is why NATO is so important.
75 years since our four,
our founding fathers, God bless their souls,
they really had a brilliant idea to create NATO.
We are now heading for the Washington Summit in July,
and we are ready to continue to do what we
are meant to be doing,
protecting freedom, 1 billion people.
And this is the sacred mission of our great alliance.
Thank you for your service to NATO and to the
United States.