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00:00Secretary General thank you so much for joining us. Bloomberg It's always nice to see you especially now in person I have to tell you. Regulations for this announcement you're going to be the central banker of Norway. Join in soon. But of course there are concerns that maybe there is a void here at NATO at a critical time. So the obvious question is are you staying on this job until your very last day. Yes absolutely. For NATO there is no change at all. I will be fully focused on my responsibilities here at NATO and I will stay here until the end of my tenure. First of all Tobar this fall. So for NATO there's no change. I will be at the helm all night or two down the mountain. So for those that are you you know this could leave a void that perhaps countries like Russia China is more in particular. We saw that statement from the two of them could use and tap into that. That's something that you would say don't worry about it. That needle has a box until the last day. Yes absolutely. And there is no change because I will say my my tenure expired will expire on the 1st of October. And that's still the case. And I will stay here until the 1st or Tobar and I will not leave before they send music to general in place as the plan has always been. And of course I want to ask about the statement that came out today from Russia and China. Of course Vladimir Putin is in Beijing for the Olympic Games. Were you surprised by the language in the statement that essentially says it's the West that's creating a lot of tensions. You specifically mention about the Pacific they forget about what's happening in Ukraine. You could argue it's conveniently forgetting but what you have seen over some time is that Russia and China are working more or more closer together in the diplomatic field but also in the military field meaning that they are operating more together. They have more exercise to together. Just a few days ago they had a joint naval exercise with also Iran. So of course this is something we follow up on the door. But as long as we stand together tonight on North America and Europe we are safe and we are strong because together we represent 50 percent of the world's military might and 50 percent of the world's economic might. So if anything more Russian Chinese cooperation just underlines the importance of NATO also for North America. And your message to China and Russia on this day I guess. I mean you're saying we're a big military force. Would you say the message here is handled. This was clear. So our message is that we are the defensive alliance and we always look for diplomatic and political solutions. And that's also the case for instance when it comes to the Russian military buildup we now see in and around Ukraine with more and more combat troops with heavy equipment ammunition and more and more units coming in. We see that combined with the very threatening rhetoric from the Russian side. And then we have the track record of Russia using force against Ukraine before. So that there's a real danger. But we continue to to to seek a political solution. And we invited Russia for talks and also made our proposals written and shared them with Russia. And we wait for the response and that response. There were some documents that were leaked in a newspaper this week. I wonder if you recognize the content of those documents. And the reason we ask is because it really reflects everything that you've said. And publicly there was nothing hitting in those documents that we classified or we didn't make our proposals public when we sent them to Russia. Just because we believe that any diplomatic success is success a precondition for diplomatic success is confidentiality. So if we really want progress if we really want to find a solution we cannot do the talks and the negotiations in the media. We need to sit down and try to create some minimum of of understanding and then we will listen to the Russian concerns. But at the same time we will call on our positions and then we should try to find a way forward. And the reason why I ask you about the documents that perhaps you mentioned confidentiality a lot of people in Ukraine particularly you know who going through a very difficult situation. They worried that at one point perhaps NATO Russia the United States are going to get in a room and decide what to do with the country. Confidentiality. Do you. What does it mean. Can there be a solution without Ukraine. We have consulted very closely with Ukraine and we have shared our positions with Ukraine. Ukraine is a close and highly valued partner of NATO. And our message is that Ukraine is a sovereign independent nation that has the right to make its own decisions. And the challenge and the problem with the Russian behavior is that they don't respect the sovereignty of Ukraine need to provide support to Ukraine. We helped them also to enhance stability for self-defense to exercise and to demonstrate to the sovereignty. In face of the Russian threat and when you look at how this is presented in Russia where the Russians argue is need who is pushing Ukraine to join in. Expand. This is going to trap us and we're going to be surrounded by need of forces. I know you're very keen on seeing open doors for everyone. Everyone who wants to join can't join. But in reality what are the prospects of Ukraine joining NATO in the short term. And the reason why I ask is because when you look at this perhaps in the Russian media it's always presented as this could be imminent. And they're doing this to trap us. So first Russia is not surrounded by NATO on 6 percent of Russia's border is a border with NATO country. Second the idea that in a way Ukraine is a threat to Russia is absolutely wrong. Russia has the biggest land army in Europe. It's a nuclear power. It has invested heavily in military equipment and capabilities over the last year. And they occupy a part of Ukraine and Crimea under control Donbas the eastern part of Ukraine. So the aggressor is Russia. And therefore to say that Ukraine this effort is to put the whole thing upside down. Let me also say that this is parliament not about NATO expansion meaning that NATO in a way is force moving east. That's wrong. This is about respecting that sovereign right of independent nations to choose their own path. We respect when a country wants to join it and also we respect them if they don't want to join NATO. We don't want to return to an angel sphere of influence where big powers decide that what small countries could do. And NATO's never forced any country into the 1990s. But sir then how do you go forward here. Because what is clear is that what Russia wants you're not going to give and what you are seeing could be a way to de-escalate the Russians. See that doesn't address any of our security concerns. So then what happens is we are ready to talk about a wider range of issues and also to listen to the Russian concerns. We are ready to talk about arms control missiles and nuclear weapons mechanisms to have more transparency on military activities and many other issues. And they proven before that it is possible to make deals with Russia. We have arms control agreements and banning whole categories of weapons. So the intermediate range weapons. There are bilateral agreements between the United States and Russia on strategic long range weapons. So it is possible I was on my own experience from Norway and we made agreements on on energy and delimitation line in the Barents Sea and so on. So that's possible. But then we need to sit down and unengaged in good faith and and go through the proposals. And that's exactly what that NATO is proposing to Russia. And of course the Russians see Vladimir Putin has the documents. He has the needed ones. He also has the American ones today. He's in China of course trying to send also perhaps a political message by joining the Chinese in the event. But I wonder when are you expecting the Russians to respond to this. Well today how to respond when they are ready to respond with deadline. No we are not setting a deadline because we have time to do the time needed to to sit down because we are actually we we haven't done anything in in Ukraine. It's Russia that is responsible for significant significant ongoing military buildup. Almost every week we see or even almost every day we see new units coming with combat their troops with advanced weapons systems and medical units command and control. So of course this is a great concern and we calling them to stop that to de-escalate and sit down and engage in serious talks. And you've said twice we're seeing more and more. Is there a new count of troops that you have in your intel. Well we are getting intel almost 2000 regularly several times a week. And we are following this very closely. We have of course NATO allies but also NATO has capabilities that are monitoring what is going on. And and and we see not only in in in across the border to to Ukraine and many other tools now see in it. But Russia rush and how many are there. We expect to soon that it will be 30000 Russian troops the biggest Russian military presence since the Cold War. In Belarus we see specks not special that the special operation forces we see ISE under nuclear capable missiles shortening missile missiles. We see advanced air defense systems. So of course all of this together really it's something which is a great concern. And that's the reason why that there is a real danger for a Russian invasion. But that makes it even more important to also look for a political way forward. And I also wonder if there had been reports that perhaps Russia's. Not just moving military equipment but also blood supplies everything that is medical that could actually mean they're ready for casualties. You have that information. Yes we have that information. The thing is that we have free will to have all the combat troops but we also have what we call enablers all the kind of support you need if you're going to conduct a big military operation with command and control with logistics with ammunition with fuel but also medical units. So it is this total picture which is becoming more and more serious. That makes us concerned. And for us this means that we need to send the message that they have to de-escalate if they use force to be a high price to pay allies price support to Ukraine so they can defend themself. And then of course we are increasing the need to presence in the eastern part of the Lions U.S. UK no NATO troops in Ukraine no NATO troops no NATO combat troops in Ukraine. But of course we have more NATO troops in the eastern part of the alliance on April 28th. And just a final question for the people of Ukraine. They hear the attack is imminent from the United States. Then President Zelensky says it's not this. This is creating panic. Let's calm down then. The Russians deny they have any plans to invade. What is your message as NATO. How likely is the attack. Because this is full paranoia for people in Ukraine every day. There is no certainty. But there is are danger under real dangerous day because we see this military buildup. We see the threatening rhetoric and we see you know the track record of Russia. And if we put that together of course there is a danger we need to address. And that's exactly what I do. And your message to burden is stop it while you can. There's still a way for absolutely de-escalate unsaid down and talk. Well Secretary General thank you so much. And as always it's very nice to see him. No thanks so much for having me.

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'Real Danger' of Russia Invading Ukraine, NATO Chief Says

"There's a real danger for a Russian invasion, but that makes it even more important to look for a political way forward," said Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the NATO military alliance, told Bloomberg's Maria Tadeo. He also warned about the troop build-up on Ukraine's border, and stressed the importance of finding a "political way forward." (Source: Bloomberg)

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