that alliance. what i can say, and i'm not sure that it infers anything at all but we did note with alarm the approval of putin's activities here in the region, so i'm not sure that we can make any kind of direct inference from what you just raised but certainly those are things we will continue to watch going forward but i think you are right it is a very interesting and important question. >> thanks, everybody. that concludes today's. thank you very much. >> nato secretary-general also addressed reporters at nato's headquarters, except there's no sign of a russian military

withdrawalrn or de-escalation. he said russia's military buildup on the border is continuing. >> good afternoon. nato allies continue to have strong diplomatic effortss, to find a political solution to this situation triggered by the buildup in and around ukraine. despite moscow's claims, we have seen no sign of withdrawal or de-escalation so far. on the contrary, russia's buildup appears c to continue. we continue to monitor the developments very closely. we call on russia to do what it says and withdraw its forces from the borders of ukraine. this will be an important first step towards a peaceful

political solution. today we met with our close partners, ukraine and georgia. the continued threat of russian aggression, the deteriorating situation in the pakistani region and nato's strong publicland practical support foh countries. natoto and allies are helping ukraine boost and defend itself. self-defense is a right in trying in the un charter, and allies are helping ukraine to uphold that right. including with trainers and military equipment for the ukrainian armed forces. cyber and intelligence expertise and with significant financial support. we also discussed the presence of the russian forces in the georgian regions of south basidia and the result recommending the recognition of

the nongovernment controlled areas. we all agree that would be a further violation of ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. in the minsk agreements undermining the efforts to find a political solution in the normandy format. today, confirming nato's door ooremains open. any decision on the membership is for nato allies to take and nobody else. the right of each nation to choose his own path is absolutely for the european at t transatlantic security and it must be respected. nato allies restated their strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both georgia and

ukraine. we cannot accept the return to theuk age of the influence where big powers, intimidate or dictate to others. there can be decisions about ukraine without ukraine and no decisions about georgia without georgia. we agreed in times of tension, dialogue is even more important. nato remains open to engaging with russia in good faith. allies are ready to sit down with russia in the council. i guessed a wide range of issues and find thes. common ground. in the final session, we met with our very close partners. we share the values, faced the acrisis in and around ukraine affectsr' us all. so, we agree that it's even more

important now that we continue to work together and complement each other's efforts to bring the crisis to a peaceful solution and with that, i am ready to take your questions. >> we will go to "the wall street journal." >> thank you very much. dan michaels with wall street journal. are you confirmed and have comments today out of russia about the hostilities and possible incursions could be used as a pretext for russia to attack. so we are concerned that russia is trying to stage a pre- taxed attack against ukraine. it is still no clarity, no certainty about the tensions. we don't know what will happen but we do know that russia has a

bigger master even for decades in and around ukraine. and we also know that there are many russian intelligence officers and we have seen attempts to stage a pretext to provide an excuse for invading ukraine so of course this is of concern. i cannot go into the details of the different reports about this is the reason why we are so closely monitoring what is going on and also why nato and nato alliesau have exposed their actions and plans and the efforts when it comes to disinformation because we believe that makes it harder for them to act, harder for them to

invade ukraine. tothen we continue to call on russia to de-escalate, to withdraw forces and engage in a political dialogue with the nato allies. >> thank you, secretary-general. you've accused russia of disinformation and i wonder whether they could make the same charges at the nato alliance. there were predictions that there might be,0 an infusion on the 16th, which never happened. russia always said it's not intending to invade ukraine accepting that they've got troops. we are not clear how many there are. are there 100,000? 30,000, i heard it's 170,000 about 50,000 is the other thing. i wonder is there a danger accusing russia of

>>disinformation, they can just turn to you and say you've put out this information about the coups that haven't happened, about the false flag operations. how would you respond to that? >> partly by just referring to what we have described, our facts on the ground. this is something you can monitor by the commercials satellites so no one is trying to deny the fact that russia has. but nobody knows and we have to be clear about that the whole time is we know that capacity. if you combine what we know

about thehe forces if we don't acmeet the demands there will be military technical consequences. g supports ukraine, so they can defend themselves. all of this we do to try to prevent an attack on ukraine. the fact that we are describing risk does not mean that it would happen with 100% certainty. we describe that, that is it. the main story, the main message has been the same from nato for months. when nato allies describe the

buildup, that was questioned. we also described the most likely plans -- now we need to prevent the next step from happening that they are using this force against ukraine and that is why we're doing all the things we are doing in calling russia to de-escalate and also showing them what they will do if they use force again. >> according to the public -- the available information coming from ukraine, russian troops are not withdrawing from belarus and just maneuvering along the borders of ukraine. my question is does nato share the concerns that these trips could be staying in belarus?

what would be the position of nato if that happens? >> what i have seen over many years now is the european security environment. with illegal annexation of crimea. and now with the large number of combat ready troops in and around ukraine. there is also closer and closer integration of russia and russian forces. so that is why we have reacted in the way we have in nato. we have strengthened our presence in the east with the groups in the baltic countries and poland. and that is why we are watching

what is happening or in and around ukraine. we are now considering the next steps including groups in the southeast of the alliance. nato has to respond when we see aggressive actions by russia but we continue to search for dialogue and de-escalation. nato believes in dialogue and therefore, we continue to call on russia to engage in good faith in dialogue with nato. >> thank you so much. secretary general, can you tell us more about the meeting with the defense minister from georgia? we are also waiting on nato georgian exercises in march. the second point, mr. zelensky

today said ukraine is welcome to nato but not all members of the alliance. how would you respond to that? >> we had a good meeting with both the defense minister from georgia and ukraine. i think in that meeting, allies expressed strong support to both countries. and analysts provided support to georgia and ukraine in different ways. we do it in the nato framework. we provide bilateral support, training and there will be an exercise in georgia later on this year and of course, nato will be part of that. the exercises we do together and it demonstrates in a way how we are working closely together. the black sea region is so strategic and important for nato so what happens there matters for us.

we are two very close partners in georgia and ukraine. to work closely with them is important for us, important for the partners and that is clearly confirmed today. we -- our positions have not changed. the focus now is on reform. it is to help both ukraine and georgia to modernize their security institutions and we continue to focus on that. >> belarus's president said the country could host nuclear weapons threatened by the west. what would be the response? >> nato is not the threat. nato is a defensive alliance. we have proven for more than 70

years that we are there to protect and defend. we are concerned about what we see that russia is modernizing its nuclear capable missiles. we have seen this in belarus. these are dual capable missiles that could carry nuclear warheads. the reason why we are concerned and why we have been concerned for long time is because this is the path that has taken place over several years. one of the most important agreements of nato allies that they have reached and made with russia was the treaty banning all intermediate range weapons globally but also in europe.

and russia deployed missiles and that has undermined it security. we are taking the necessary decisions and steps to be able to protect all of our allies including close by russian nuclear investments. >> thank you. could you to us was tap -- what has to happen on the ground so that nato can state those are real fines of de-escalation? russia is apparently about to hand over their response to the u.s. proposals. are you also expecting them to send a response to your proposal as well? >> we are waiting for the response from russia.

we received a draft security treaty that russia wanted to sign with nato. we met in the nato russia council. where this proposal was discussed. we have sent to russia our proposals where we actually list and go through areas like arms control, and we believe that these are topics where there is room for common ground to find solutions. that will improve the security of all of us, for nato allies and the people of russia. arms control is good for all of us. it will strengthen the security for russia and for nato allies. the reason why we have conveyed these proposals is that we believe that if we sit down in

good faith as we have done in the past, we can actually reach agreements which are strengthening the security of all countries including of course russia. we are waiting for the response. we have not yet received any response but i continue to believe that the nato russia council that was established by russia and nato allies is the best path forward to engage when nato and russia have issues to discuss. the nato russia council is an all weather institution. it is even more important that we meet now then when tensions are high. i invited russia to a series of meetings in the nato russia council to address their concerns, our concerns and to try to find a common way forward.

your first question was? >> we have to see a real withdrawal. you have to understand it is a buildup that has taken place over many months. over the whole time, we have seen the number of troops going down and some forces moving in and some moving out but the net effect has been a steady increase. the fact that they are putting a battle tank on a train and moving it in some direction does not prove withdrawal of troops. that is not the same as real de-escalation because these capabilities are moving around all the time in and out. it has to be a meaningful withdrawal. it has to be a meaningful de-escalation. that is what we are waiting for. so far we have not seen that. of course, this can change and that is what we are hoping and

working for. when we see that russia does what they are saying, that there is real, significant, meaningful reduction of troops in and around ukraine. >> we will try to take two quick questions online. >> thank you mr. secretary-general. my question is this, secretary-general, from the latest information that you are receiving, all the reports on the russian troop movement, does russia have enough troops, enough hardware on its borders with ukraine to stage an invasion now? if so, what could that invasion look like? >> they have enough troops, enough capabilities with very

little or no warning signs. that is what makes the situation so dangerous. we know about their capabilities but we don't know with certainty about their intentions. it remains to be seen what they actually do. but to have so many troops in and around ukraine, it is not a normal exercise, it is not a normal activity on their own territory, this is something that is near an independent sovereign nation and they can launch an attack with hardly any warning time at all and that is the danger. that is the reason why we continue to call on them to de-escalate. it is never too late to de-escalate. it is never too late to find a political solution and we are ready to sit down and address their concerns and find common ground for the political

solution. >> thank you very much. thank you for this, secretary-general. i would wonder what would happen if we are headed for a situation not of war or peace but sustained pressure, what does that mean for nato in terms of sanctions? >> regrettably, i think what we are seeing now is a new normal for european security. because we have seen this trend over many years. where russia contests principles for european security and where they are willing to use force

but also to threaten with the use of force to intimidate countries in europe. we have seen this develop it over sometime. especially since 2014. that is why nato has responded. just to make sure that we continue to preserve peace and prevent any room for miscalculation and misunderstanding about our ability to defend allies. we have decided that this defense minister meeting, that we have others looking to advise on the next steps for more longer-term increased presence in the eastern part of the alliance.

for me, this just underlines the importance of nato's track. we need to be strong, united, firm but at the same time we are almost ready to -- always ready to find a peaceful dialogue. nato believes in dialogue. we believe in diplomacy. >> thank you very much. this concludes this press conference. thank you. o have it. the nomination is confirmed.