NATO country leaders issue Washington Summit Declaration

Washington Summit Declaration issued by the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. 10 July 2024

Leaders of NATO member countries release joint declaration at summit in the United States pledging commitment to military alliance and long-term support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.

1. We, the Heads of State and Government of the North Atlantic Alliance, have gathered in Washington to celebrate the 75th anniversary of our Alliance.  Forged to preserve peace, NATO remains the strongest Alliance in history.  We stand in unity and solidarity in the face of a brutal war of aggression on the European continent and at a critical time for our security.  We reaffirm the enduring transatlantic bond between our nations.  NATO remains the unique, essential, and indispensable transatlantic forum to consult, coordinate, and act on all matters related to our individual and collective security.  NATO is a defensive Alliance.  Our commitment to defend one another and every inch of Allied territory at all times, as enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, is iron-clad.  We will continue to ensure our collective defence against all threats and from all directions, based on a 360-degree approach, to fulfil NATO’s three core tasks of deterrence and defence, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security.  We are bound together by shared values: individual liberty, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.  We adhere to international law and to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and are committed to upholding the rules-based international order.
    
2. We warmly welcome our thirty second and newest Ally, Sweden.  The historic accession of Finland and Sweden makes them safer and our Alliance stronger, including in the High North and the Baltic Sea.  Every nation has the right to choose its own security arrangements.  We reaffirm our commitment to NATO’s Open Door Policy, in line with Article 10 of the Washington Treaty.
    
3. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shattered peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and gravely undermined global security.  Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security.  Terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, is the most direct asymmetric threat to the security of our citizens and to international peace and prosperity.  The threats we face are global and interconnected.
    
4. Strategic competition, pervasive instability, and recurrent shocks define our broader security environment.  Conflict, fragility and instability in Africa and the Middle East directly affect our security and the security of our partners.  Where present, these trends, among others, contribute to forced displacement, fuelling human trafficking and irregular migration.    Iran’s destabilising actions are affecting Euro-Atlantic security.  The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) stated ambitions and coercive policies continue to challenge our interests, security and values.  The deepening strategic partnership between Russia and the PRC and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut and reshape the rules-based international order, are a cause for profound concern.  We are confronted by hybrid, cyber, space, and other threats and malicious activities from state and non-state actors.
    
5. At this 75th anniversary Summit, we are taking further steps to strengthen our deterrence and defence, bolster our long-term support to Ukraine so it can prevail in its fight for freedom, and deepen NATO’s partnerships. We warmly welcome President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and the European Union. 
    
6. We welcome that more than two-thirds of Allies have fulfilled their commitment of at least 2% of GDP annual defence spending and commend those Allies who have exceeded it.  Allies are stepping up: defence expenditure by European Allies and Canada has grown by 18% in 2024, the biggest increase in decades.  They are also investing more in modern capabilities, and increasing their contributions to NATO operations, missions, and activities.  We reaffirm our enduring commitment to fully implement the Defence Investment Pledge as agreed in Vilnius, and recognise that more is needed urgently to sustainably meet our commitments as NATO Allies.  We reaffirm that, in many cases, expenditure beyond 2% of GDP will be needed in order to remedy existing shortfalls and meet the requirements across all domains arising from a more contested security order.
    
7. We have undertaken the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence in a generation.  We are delivering on the Madrid and Vilnius Summit decisions to modernise NATO for a new era of collective defence.  We cannot discount the possibility of an attack against Allies’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.  We have strengthened our deterrence and defence posture to deny any potential adversary any possible opportunities for aggression.  We continue to enhance NATO’s deterrence and defence against all threats and challenges, in all domains, and in multiple strategic directions across the Euro-Atlantic area. We have deployed in-place combat-ready forces on NATO’s Eastern Flank, strengthened forward defences, and enhanced the Alliance’s ability to rapidly reinforce any Ally that comes under threat.  We have a new generation of NATO defence plans in place that make the Alliance stronger and more able to deter and, if necessary, defend against any potential adversary, including at short or no notice.  We are committed to delivering the required high readiness forces across all domains, including for a robust and agile Allied Reaction Force.  We are further accelerating the modernisation of our collective defence and are:
   • Providing the necessary forces, capabilities, resources, and infrastructure for our new defence plans, to be prepared for high-intensity and multi-domain collective defence.  In this regard, we will build on the progress made to ensure that increased national defence expenditures and NATO common funding will be commensurate with the challenges of a more contested security order.
      
   • Conducting more frequent and large-scale training and exercises of our plans to demonstrate our ability to defend and rapidly reinforce any Ally that comes under threat, including through Steadfast Defender 24, NATO’s largest military exercise in a generation.
      
   • Taking urgent action to increase capabilities in accordance with the NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP), including in the short-term, with our initial focus to include battle decisive munitions and air and missile defence.  We welcome collective and joint procurement initiatives based on our requirements, informed by the NDPP.  We are accelerating transformation and the integration of new technologies and innovation, including through a plan to improve technology adoption. We are also modernising our air surveillance capability.
      
   • Strengthening our NATO command and control and assigning key leadership roles to nationally provided headquarters.
      
   • Strengthening our ability to move, reinforce, supply, and sustain our forces to respond to threats across the Alliance, including through effective and resilient logistics and the development of mobility corridors.
      
   • Training, exercising, and integrating NATO’s Forward Land Forces into the new plans, including by continuing to strengthen our forward defences on NATO’s Eastern Flank.
      
   • Taking full advantage of the accession of Finland and Sweden, and the capabilities they bring to the Alliance by fully integrating them into our plans, forces, and command structures, including by developing a NATO presence in Finland.
      
   • Accelerating the integration of space into our planning, exercises, and multi-domain operations, in particular by strengthening the capacity of NATO’s Space Operations Centre.
      
   • Establishing the NATO Integrated Cyber Defence Centre to enhance network protection, situational awareness, and the implementation of cyberspace as an operational domain throughout peacetime, crisis and conflict; and developing a policy to augment the security of NATO’s networks.
      
   • Strengthening the protection of critical undersea infrastructure (CUI), and enhancing our ability to deter, detect and respond to threats, including through continued development of NATO’s Centre for Security of CUI.
      
   • Investing in our Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear defence capabilities required to effectively operate in all environments.
      
   • Accelerating implementation of NATO standards and agreeing the necessary measures to increase and strengthen our interoperability.
      
8. We are resolved to deter and defend against all air and missile threats by enhancing our Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD), based on a 360-degree approach.  We have updated NATO’s IAMD Policy and will continue to increase our readiness, responsiveness, and integration through various initiatives, such as the implementation of the IAMD Rotational Model across the Euro-Atlantic area with an initial focus on the Eastern Flank.  Allies remain committed to enhancing the effectiveness of IAMD and taking all steps to respond to the security environment.  We are pleased to declare NATO Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Enhanced Operational Capability.  The delivery of the Aegis Ashore site Redzikowo, Poland, complements existing assets in Romania, Spain, and Türkiye.  Allies remain committed to the full development of NATO BMD, to pursue the Alliance’s collective defence and to provide full coverage and protection for all NATO European populations, territory, and forces against the increasing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles.  Missile defence can complement the role of nuclear weapons in deterrence; it cannot substitute them.
    
9. Nuclear deterrence is the cornerstone of Alliance security.  The fundamental purpose of NATO’s nuclear capability is to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression.  As long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance.  NATO reaffirms its commitment to all the decisions, principles, and commitments with regard to NATO’s nuclear deterrence, arms control policy and non-proliferation and disarmament objectives as stated in the 2022 Strategic Concept and 2023 Vilnius Communiqué.  Arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation have made and should continue to make an essential contribution to achieving the Alliance’s security objectives and to ensuring strategic stability and our collective security.  NATO remains committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure the credibility, effectiveness, safety, and security of the Alliance’s nuclear deterrence mission, including by modernising its nuclear capabilities, strengthening its nuclear planning capability, and adapting as necessary.
    
10.  NATO’s deterrence and defence posture is based on an appropriate mix of nuclear, conventional, and missile defence capabilities, complemented by space and cyber capabilities.  We will employ military and non-military tools in a proportionate, coherent and integrated way to deter all threats to our security and respond in the manner, timing, and in the domain of our choosing.
     
11. Transatlantic defence industrial cooperation is a critical part of NATO’s deterrence and defence.  Strengthened defence industry across Europe and North America and enhanced defence industrial cooperation among Allies makes us more capable and better able to deliver against the requirements of NATO’s defence plans in a timely manner.  It underpins Allies’ immediate and enduring support to Ukraine.  We will continue to reduce and eliminate, as appropriate, obstacles to defence trade and investment among Allies.  Building on the Defence Production Action Plan agreed at the Vilnius Summit in 2023, we commit to doing more together as Allies, including to strengthen defence industry across the Alliance, act urgently to deliver the most critical capabilities, and reinforce our commitment to NATO standards.  To that end, we have today agreed the NATO Industrial Capacity Expansion Pledge.
     
12. National and collective resilience are an essential basis for credible deterrence and defence and the effective fulfillment of the Alliance’s core tasks in a 360-degree approach.  Resilience is a national responsibility and a collective commitment, rooted in Article 3 of the Washington Treaty.  Strengthening national and Alliance-wide preparedness for deterrence and defence requires a whole of government approach, public-private cooperation, and societal resilience considerations.  We pledge to build on our ongoing efforts to strengthen national resilience by integrating civilian planning into national and collective defence planning in peace, crisis and conflict.  We will continue to boost our resilience by increasing the Alliance’s collective awareness, preparedness and capacity across all hazards and in all domains, to address growing strategic threats, including against our democratic systems, critical infrastructure, and supply chains.  We will employ the necessary capabilities to detect, defend against, and respond to the full spectrum of malicious activities.  We will also take concrete steps to deepen our cooperation with our partners engaged in similar efforts, in particular the European Union.
     
13. State and non-state actors are using increasingly aggressive hybrid actions against Allies.  We will continue to prepare for, deter, defend against, and counter hybrid threats and challenges.  We reiterate that hybrid operations against Allies could reach the level of an armed attack and could lead the North Atlantic Council to invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
     
14. We will continue to develop our individual and collective capacity to analyse and counter hostile disinformation and misinformation operations. NATO is closely coordinating with Allies and partners.  We have increased our alert and sharing mechanisms and strengthened our joint responses, in particular in strategic communication.
     
15. We look forward to meeting with President Zelenskyy in the NATO-Ukraine Council.  We reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the heroic defence of their nation, their land, and our shared values.  A strong, independent, and democratic Ukraine is vital for the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic area.  Ukraine’s fight for its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders directly contributes to Euro-Atlantic security.  We welcome announcements by Allies to provide Ukraine with critical additional air defence systems as well as other military capabilities.  To help Ukraine defend itself today, and deter Russian aggression in the future, we have:
    • Decided to establish the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) to coordinate the provision of military equipment and training for Ukraine by Allies and partners.  Its aim is to place security assistance to Ukraine on an enduring footing, ensuring enhanced, predictable, and coherent support.  NSATU, which will operate in Allied states, will support Ukraine’s self-defence in line with the UN Charter.  NSATU will not, under international law, make NATO a party to the conflict.  It will support the transformation of Ukraine’s defence and security forces, enabling its further integration with NATO.
       
    • Announced a Pledge of Long-Term Security Assistance for Ukraine for the provision of military equipment, assistance, and training to support Ukraine in building a force capable of defeating Russian aggression.  Through proportional contributions, Allies intend to provide a minimum baseline funding of €40 billion within the next year, and to provide sustainable levels of security assistance for Ukraine to prevail.
       
    • Taken forward the establishment of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Centre (JATEC), an important pillar of practical cooperation, to identify and apply lessons from Russia’s war against Ukraine and increase Ukraine’s interoperability with NATO.
       
    • Welcomed the Secretary General’s decision to appoint a NATO Senior Representative in Ukraine.
       
16. We fully support Ukraine’s right to choose its own security arrangements and decide its own future, free from outside interference.  Ukraine’s future is in NATO.  Ukraine has become increasingly interoperable and politically integrated with the Alliance.  We welcome the concrete progress Ukraine has made since the Vilnius Summit on its required democratic, economic, and security reforms.  As Ukraine continues this vital work, we will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.  We reaffirm that we will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met.  The Summit decisions by NATO and the NATO-Ukraine Council, combined with Allies’ ongoing work, constitute a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO.  Allies will continue to support Ukraine’s progress on interoperability as well as additional democratic and security sector reforms, which NATO Foreign Ministers will continue to assess through the adapted Annual National Programme.
     
17. Russia bears sole responsibility for its war of aggression against Ukraine, a blatant violation of international law, including the UN Charter.  There can be no impunity for Russian forces’ and officials’ abuses and violations of human rights, war crimes, and other violations of international law.  Russia is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians and has caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure.  We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s horrific attacks on the Ukrainian people, including on hospitals, on 8 July. Russia must immediately stop this war and completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its forces from Ukraine in line with UN General Assembly resolutions.  We will never recognise Russia’s illegal annexations of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.  We also call on Russia to withdraw all of its forces from the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, stationed there without their consent.
     
18. Russia seeks to fundamentally reconfigure the Euro-Atlantic security architecture.  The all-domain threat Russia poses to NATO will persist into the long term.  Russia is rebuilding and expanding its military capabilities, and continues its airspace violations and provocative activities.  We stand in solidarity with all Allies affected by these actions.  NATO does not seek confrontation, and poses no threat to Russia.  We remain willing to maintain channels of communication with Moscow to mitigate risk and prevent escalation.
     
19. We condemn Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and coercive nuclear signalling, including its announced stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus, which demonstrate a posture of strategic intimidation.  Russia has increased its reliance on nuclear weapon systems and continued to diversify its nuclear forces, including by developing novel nuclear systems and deploying short and intermediate range dual-capable strike capabilities, all of which poses a growing threat to the Alliance.  Russia has violated, selectively implemented, and walked away from longstanding arms control obligations and commitments, thereby undermining the global arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation architecture.  We oppose any placement of nuclear weapons in orbit around Earth, which would violate Article IV of the Outer Space Treaty, and would gravely threaten global security.  We are profoundly concerned by the reported use of chemical weapons by Russia against Ukrainian forces.
     
20. Russia has also intensified its aggressive hybrid actions against Allies, including through proxies, in a campaign across the Euro-Atlantic area.  These include sabotage, acts of violence, provocations at Allied borders, instrumentalisation of irregular migration, malicious cyber activities, electronic interference, disinformation campaigns and malign political influence, as well as economic coercion.  These actions constitute a threat to Allied security.  We have decided on further measures to counter Russian hybrid threats or actions individually and collectively, and will continue to coordinate closely.  Russia’s behaviour will not deter Allies’ resolve and support to Ukraine.  We will also continue to support our partners most exposed to Russian destabilisation, as they strengthen their resilience in the face of hybrid challenges that are also present in our neighbourhood.
     
21. We are determined to constrain and contest Russia’s aggressive actions and to counter its ability to conduct destabilising activities towards NATO and Allies.  For our next Summit, we will develop recommendations on NATO’s strategic approach to Russia, taking into account the changing security environment.
     
22. Countering terrorism remains essential to our collective defence.  NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism contributes to all three core tasks of the Alliance and is integral to the Alliance’s 360-degree approach to deterrence and defence.  We will continue to counter, deter, defend, and respond to threats and challenges posed by terrorists and terrorist organisations based on a combination of prevention, protection, and denial measures with determination, resolve and in solidarity.  In order to further strengthen NATO’s role in counter-terrorism we endorsed today NATO’s Updated Policy Guidelines on Counter-Terrorism and our Updated Action Plan on Enhancing NATO’s Role in the International Community’s Fight Against Terrorism.  These documents will guide the Alliance’s work on counter-terrorism and identify key areas for our long-term efforts.  We welcome the role played in this respect by the Secretary General’s Special Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism.
     
23. We urge all countries not to provide any kind of assistance to Russia’s aggression.  We condemn all those who are facilitating and thereby prolonging Russia’s war in Ukraine.
     
24. Belarus continues to enable this war by making available its territory and infrastructure.  Russia’s deepening political and military integration of Belarus, including the deployment of advanced Russian military capabilities and personnel, has negative implications for regional stability and the defence of the Alliance.
     
25.  The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Iran are fuelling Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine by providing direct military support to Russia, such as munitions and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), which seriously impacts Euro-Atlantic security and undermines the global non-proliferation regime.  We strongly condemn the DPRK’s exports of artillery shells and ballistic missiles, which are in violation of numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions, and note with great concern the deepening ties between the DPRK and Russia.  Any transfer of ballistic missiles and related technology by Iran to Russia would represent a substantial escalation. 
     
26. The PRC has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine through its so-called “no limits” partnership and its large-scale support for Russia’s defence industrial base.  This increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbours and to Euro-Atlantic security.  We call on the PRC, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a particular responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort.  This includes the transfer of dual-use materials, such as weapons components, equipment, and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defence sector.  The PRC cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation.
     
27. The PRC continues to pose systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security.  We have seen sustained malicious cyber and hybrid activities, including disinformation, stemming from the PRC.  We call on the PRC to uphold its commitment to act responsibly in cyberspace.  We are concerned by developments in the PRC’s space capabilities and activities.  We call on the PRC to support international efforts to promote responsible space behaviour. The PRC continues to rapidly expand and diversify its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems.  We urge the PRC to engage in strategic risk reduction discussions and promote stability through transparency.  We remain open to constructive engagement with the PRC, including to build reciprocal transparency with the view of safeguarding the Alliance’s security interests.  At the same time, we are boosting our shared awareness, enhancing our resilience and preparedness, and protecting against the PRC’s coercive tactics and efforts to divide the Alliance.
     
28. NATO’s partnerships remain key to enhancing stability, positively influencing the global security environment, and upholding international law.  They play an important role in supporting NATO’s three core tasks and our 360-degree security approach.  We will continue to strengthen political dialogue and practical cooperation with partners, based on mutual respect, benefit, and interest of both Allies and partners.  We are gathering at this anniversary Summit with our partners, including to mark thirty years of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) and the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD), and twenty years of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI).  We are grateful to our partners for their significant contributions to NATO operations and missions.  We welcome Moldova’s efforts to continue democratic reforms as it advances, as does Bosnia and Herzegovina, with its European integration, and we are committed to supporting their security and defence capabilities, and to enhance their capacity to counter hybrid threats.  We are also strengthening our engagements with existing and potential new interlocutors beyond the Euro-Atlantic area, when doing so could bolster our mutual security.
     
29. The European Union remains a unique and essential partner for NATO.  NATO-EU cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.  Practical cooperation has been strengthened and expanded on space, cyber, climate and defence, as well as emerging and disruptive technologies.  In the context of Ukraine, NATO-EU cooperation has become more significant.  NATO recognises the value of a stronger and more capable European defence that contributes positively to transatlantic and global security and is complementary to, and interoperable with NATO.  The development of coherent, complementary and interoperable defence capabilities, avoiding unnecessary duplication, is key in our joint efforts to make the Euro-Atlantic area safer.  For the strategic partnership between NATO and the EU, non-EU Allies’ fullest involvement in EU defence efforts is essential.  We will continue to further strengthen our strategic partnership in a spirit of full mutual openness, transparency, complementarity, and respect for the organisations’ different mandates, decision-making autonomy and institutional integrity, and as agreed by the two organisations.  We look forward to working closely with the EU’s new leadership, on the basis of our longstanding cooperation.
     
30. We will meet with the leadership of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea, and the European Union to discuss common security challenges and areas of cooperation.  The Indo-Pacific is important for NATO, given that developments in that region directly affect Euro-Atlantic security.  We welcome the continued contributions of our Asia-Pacific partners to Euro-Atlantic security.  We are strengthening dialogue to tackle cross-regional challenges and are enhancing our practical cooperation, including through flagship projects in the areas of supporting Ukraine, cyber defence, countering disinformation, and technology.  These projects will enhance our ability to work together on shared security interests.
     
31. The Western Balkans and the Black Sea regions are of strategic importance for the Alliance.  We remain strongly committed to their security and stability.  We will continue to enhance our political dialogue and practical cooperation with the Western Balkans in order to support reforms, regional peace and security, and counter malign influence, including disinformation, hybrid, and cyber threats, posed by both state and non-state actors.  Democratic values, the rule of law, domestic reforms, and good neighbourly relations are vital for regional cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration, and we look to continued progress in this regard.  We remain committed to NATO’s continued engagement in the Western Balkans, including through the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR).  We reaffirm our continued support to Allied regional efforts aimed at upholding security, safety, stability and freedom of navigation in the Black Sea region including, as appropriate, through the 1936 Montreux Convention.  We welcome the activation by the three littoral Allies of the Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Task Group.  We will further monitor and assess developments in the region and enhance our situational awareness, with a particular focus on the threats to our security and potential opportunities for closer cooperation with our partners in the region, as appropriate.  NATO supports the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of interested countries in this region.
     
32. NATO’s southern neighbourhood provides opportunities for cooperation on issues of mutual interest.  Through our partnerships we aim to foster greater security and stability in the Middle East and Africa, contributing to peace and prosperity in the region.  In Vilnius, we launched a comprehensive reflection on threats, challenges, and opportunities in the South.  Today we have adopted an action plan for a stronger, more strategic and result-oriented approach toward our southern neighbourhood, which will be regularly updated.  We have invited the Secretary General to designate a Special Representative for the southern neighbourhood who will serve as NATO’s focal point for the region and will coordinate NATO’s efforts.  We will reinforce our dialogue, outreach, visibility, and our existing instruments for cooperation, such as the Defence Capacity Building Initiative, the Hub for the South and the NATO-ICI Regional Centre in Kuwait.  Together with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan we have agreed to open a NATO Liaison Office in Amman.  Building on the success of NATO Mission Iraq (NMI) and based on the request of the Iraqi authorities, we have broadened the scope of our support to the Iraqi Security Institutions and will continue our engagement through NMI.
     
33. We have accelerated NATO’s transformation to meet current and future threats and to maintain our technological edge, including through experimentation and more rapid adoption of emerging technologies, and through digital transformation.  To this end, we will implement our revised Artificial Intelligence Strategy and new Quantum and Biotechnology Strategies, and further promote principles of responsible use which underpin our work.  We will also build on the success of the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) to further invest in our innovation ecosystems.  We are closely monitoring technological advancements on the battlefield in Ukraine, and are launching new innovation initiatives with our Ukrainian partners.
     
34. We will continue integrating climate change considerations into all core tasks and will enhance our energy security efforts.  Climate change is a defining challenge with a profound impact on our security.  NATO remains committed to becoming the leading international organisation for understanding and adapting to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather on security.  Energy is a critical capability enabler to NATO’s core tasks and military operations.  We are committed to ensuring secure, resilient, and sustainable energy supplies, including fuel, to our military forces.  NATO and Allies are adapting to energy transition in a coherent and coordinated manner.  As we adapt our Alliance to the ongoing energy transition, we will ensure military capability, effectiveness, and interoperability. 
     
35. We are committed to integrating NATO’s ambitious Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Human Security agendas across all core tasks.  Today we have endorsed an updated WPS Policy, which will enhance the integration of gender perspectives across all of NATO’s activities and structures, and advance gender equality within the Alliance, enabling NATO to respond better to broader security challenges.  We will also continue to strengthen our human security approach related to the protection of civilians and cultural property.  At a time when international law and fundamental norms are challenged, we remain fully committed to international humanitarian law.
     
36. We pay tribute to all those who work tirelessly for our collective security and honour all those who have paid the ultimate price or have been wounded to keep us safe, and their families.
     
37. Seventy-five years ago, NATO was founded to preserve peace and promote stability within the Euro-Atlantic area.  We remain steadfast in our resolve to protect our one billion citizens, defend our territory, and safeguard our freedom and democracy.  Our Alliance has stood the test of time.  The decisions we have taken will ensure that NATO remains the bedrock of our shared security.  We wish to thank Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for his extraordinary leadership over a decade at the helm of our Alliance, during testing times.  We pledge our full support to his successor, Mark Rutte.
     
38. We express our appreciation for the generous hospitality extended to us by the United States of America.  We look forward to meeting again at our next Summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, in June 2025, followed by a meeting in Türkiye.

Pledge of Long-Term Security Assistance for Ukraine

1. Today, we affirm our unwavering commitment to Ukraine as a sovereign, democratic, independent state.  To deliver that, Ukraine requires our long-term support.  Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Allies have provided unprecedented political, economic, military, financial, and humanitarian support, including military assistance amounting to roughly €40 billion annually.  Allies have also made their defence industrial capacity available to support Ukraine’s needs.  All of this is having a substantial effect, enabling the Ukrainians to defend effectively and inflict real and severe costs on Russia.
    
2. We affirm our determination to support Ukraine in building a force capable of defeating Russian aggression today and deterring it in the future.  To that end, we intend to provide a minimum baseline funding of €40 billion within the next year, and to provide sustainable levels of security assistance for Ukraine to prevail, taking into account Ukraine’s needs, our respective national budget procedures, and the bilateral security agreements which Allies have concluded with Ukraine.  Heads of State and Government will re-evaluate Allied contributions at future NATO Summits, starting at the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague.
    
3. Our commitment extends to costs related to the provision of military equipment, assistance, and training for Ukraine, including:
   • Purchase of military equipment for Ukraine;
   • In-kind support donated to Ukraine;
   • Costs related to maintenance, logistics and transportation of military equipment for Ukraine;
   • Costs for military training for Ukraine;Operational costs associated with provision of military support to Ukraine;
   • Investments in and support for Ukraine’s defence infrastructure and defence industry;
   • All contributions to NATO Trust Funds for Ukraine, including non-lethal aid.
      
4. All Allied support for Ukraine according to the above criteria would count, whether delivered through NATO, bilateral, multilateral, or by any other means.  To support fair burden-sharing, Allies will aim to meet this pledge through proportional contributions, including by taking into account their share of Alliance GDP.
    
5. Allies will report to NATO on support delivered in relation to this pledge twice per year, with the first report to include contributions delivered after 1 January 2024.  Based on this, the Secretary General will provide an overview of all notified contributions to Allies.
    
6. In addition to military support covered by this pledge, Allies intend to continue providing political, economic, financial, and humanitarian support to Ukraine.

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