SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: Well, Minister Pistorius, welcome back to the Pentagon. It's very good to see you and your team this afternoon. We're here to take another strong step in advancing our defense industrial cooperation between the United States and Germany. And when we first met, I believe it was at NATO headquarters in 2025, we made it clear that Europe must assume primary responsibility for its conventional defense and laid out sort of a NATO 3.0 vision.
And Germany has been front and center in taking that lead and we appreciate that. And today we see major progress that no one would have thought possible, we believe before President Trump returned to office. Germany today is moving closer to fulfilling the five percent, leading the way on the spending commitment it made at The Hague Summit last year.
But as we talked about, defense spending is just the first step. So NATO 3.0 will also require putting Germany's very large and historic industrial base to work for the common defense. It's the same thing that we're doing right here, as I and members of our team travel across the country as we rebuild our arsenal of freedom, reindustrialize right here in the United States of America, American manufacturing, American made American jobs, as President Trump has emphasized from day one. That's why it's important that today, the minister and I will sign a statement of intent to significantly intensify bilateral defense, industrial cooperation.
This agreement directly aligns what we've done here at the Department of War, an acquisition transformation strategy. I think Mike — Mike's right down there on the end, with Germany's Procurement Acceleration Act and Security and Defense Industrial strategy. So when we align the two, you expand opportunities for joint development, production, license manufacturing, and expanded maintenance and sustainment capacities, exactly what allied countries should be doing.
The objective is straightforward, deliver capable systems to American, German and allied forces at scale and at speed for maximum lethality. And while doing so, while respecting taxpayer money, which we're in the business of doing. We have the shared interest to ensure that our countries and the alliance stays strong.
So we look forward to our discussion today, and we look forward, mostly, to putting this agreement into practice. So welcome back, Minister. Thank you for being here.
BORIS PISTORIUS: Thank you very much, Pete. First of all, let me thank my US counterpart for his hospitality and for our close bilateral cooperation. You mentioned that. Secretary Hegseth, Pete, it is an honor to be your guest again here at the Pentagon. It's already my third or fourth time being here, so thank you very much.
And, well, we need to realize once more and never stopping it, that we are currently experiencing what might be the greatest threat to the alliance, the west, and our way of life since the height of the Cold War. Russia has been waging a brutal war against Ukraine for almost five years now. Russia is modernizing its nuclear arsenal, increasing its present in the Arctic and militarizing space.
Meanwhile, it is enhancing its cooperation with China, North Korea and also Iran. Russia will remain the biggest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in the foreseeable future. Germany, you mentioned that, has been responding by strengthening its defense and resilience.
Our nations share a close strategic partnership that has grown over time. We demonstrated this 25 years ago, after 9/11, when NATO invoked Article 5 in defense of the USA. Today we must stand together against the threat coming from Russia and the challenges posed by China. We are investing more in our security.
Germany is strengthening its defense capabilities and acts as a driving force in Europe. We Europeans want to take some of the burden of the US and assume primary responsibility for conventional deterrence in Europe over time. Germany has increased its defense spending by 25 percent compared to 2025, to $147 billion USD, and about tripled it over the last decade.
We are investing in new state of the art weapons systems here in the US. We are assuming a leading role within NATO. And when it comes to providing support to Ukraine, and we are strengthening NATO's eastern flank, particularly through our armored brigade in Lithuania and we are also investing in new capabilities, including 35 billion euros in space capabilities.
And in a European context, we spend substantially in deep precision strike capabilities. The rollout of the first German F-35A this Friday marks a new era for the Bundeswehr capabilities build up and just one example of our close cooperation. Pete and I will sign a statement of intent today. It creates a strong basis for a closer armament cooperation between our two nations, with one clear aim, increasing our production capacity, which is crucial.
Already today, Germany is investing and buying in the US, adding up to about $50 billion USD, creating growth and jobs in the United States of America. I've stressed it during my last visit - NATO needs to become more European in order to stay transatlantic. You remember. We have jointly, with our NATO partners, followed this course.
Burden shifting is progressing. Together with our allies, we are working towards a stronger Europe and a stronger NATO. And together, with our American friends, we are working on strengthening our common defense and resilience. Thank you for hosting us.
SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: Thank you, Boris. I appreciate it. Thank you.