SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Well, good morning, Minister Lambrecht. It is great to see you again, and it's great to be able to welcome you to the Pentagon. I understand this is your first visit to the Pentagon, so, willkommen.
GERMAN DEFENSE MINISTER CHRISTINE LAMBRECHT: (inaudible).
SEC. AUSTIN: I’m moved to hear that you're going to be visiting the -- the Tomb of the Unknown -- Unknown Soldier in Arlington this morning, and we appreciate you taking time to pay tribute to our fallen heroes. You've had a busy first few months in office. We've been working closely together, including many calls and meetings at NATO, especially these past few weeks.
Putin's war of choice has taken a terrible toll on civilian casualties and forced millions of innocent Ukrainians to flee their country. Russia just -- isn't just attacking Ukraine; it's also attacking the principles at the core of transatlantic security, so we're proud to stand alongside our Allies and partners in supporting Ukraine and sovereignty and imposing consequences on Russia for its aggression. Together, we send a clear message, and that message is any challenge to our security will meet a firm and united response, and our commitment to NATO's collective defense is ironclad.
Now, Germany has shown tremendous leadership at this crucial moment. Your chancellor's decisions to bolster Germany's armed forces are bold and historic, and we look forward to working with you to implement these important changes. We also salute Germany's decision to send security assistance to Ukraine. Your example helped to inspire other Allies and partners to follow, and we applaud your decision to invest in your armed forces, pledging to spend more than two percent of your economic output on defense and establishing a -- a -- a special fund for the armed forces. I look forward to hearing more about that today.
Madam Minister, let me also thank you for working with us as we've deployed more forces to and through Germany in recent months. I've experienced German -- Germany's hospitality to U.S. personnel firsthand, and I'm very grateful for your support for our deployed troops.
Madam Minister, at this time of testing our alliance is strong. I know yesterday that you described Germany as a force for peace, and that it means something different today to be that sort of force. I agree with you, and I know that together, the United States and Germany will continue to look for ways to foster peace in Europe and around the world. So to that end, we've got a lot to discuss today, and I look forward to our conversation.
MIN. LAMBRECHT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Well, thank you very much. After countless meetings in Brussels I'm very happy to finally get together with you here in the Pentagon in the United States to continue the exchange that we have started. It is a very good sign to see that the relationship between the United States and Germany is good, and it's sustainable and permanent, also especially in defense policy.
We met in very troubling times, and what is important for me is that the transatlantic relationship, especially the relationship between Germany and the United States is meant to last and is sustainable. So we were able to show that we were able to unite NATO, that we were able to unite Europe against President Putin in the form of the sanctions that we decided on together, and especially through the support that we have shown to our Allies in the alliance, and that is mostly thanks to the United States, because this effort has been very much led by the United States, and I thank you for that.
The unity, the cohesion that we have displayed is crucial to show President Putin that he cannot drive a wedge between us, that we cannot be divided and that he knows that we stand by our Allies, and that is crucial, and I thank you for that.
Being a reliable partner in NATO and EU is something that is not just a lip service for us as Germans. This is why we took very special decisions. For example, we decided that we want to deliver arms to a region where there is a conflict, where there's actually a war that's being waged, and that's a decision that is very special for Germany. But it was necessary to make that decision because we have seen that agreements were broken, that lies were told and that a brutal war of aggression was started, and that is why we have to make those very crucial decisions. We had to rethink our own stance on a few topics because we wanted to be a reliable partner.
And therefore, I'm also very grateful to Federal Chancellor Scholz because he took those very far-reaching decisions that aim at equipping the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, correctly and better than they are equipped now, and that helps the purpose of also having Germany be a reliable partner within NATO, and having us be in the position to actually fulfill our pledges and continue to be a country that everybody can rely on.
SEC. AUSTIN: Well, thank you very much, Madam Minister.
