matters. at nato we were joined by the ministers of finland and sweden, e.u. high representative, united king and canada and never before have nato and the european union and other partner nations worked so closely together. this is a new kind of cooperation and will bring this to bear not just in this crisis but in the years to come. and our european allies and partners are stepping up to lead in unprecedented ways. first time nato has activated and deployed parts of its response force. several nato allies, including the u.k., germany, netherlands, denmark, spain, france, have sent troops and aircraft and ships to reinforce the alliances eastern flank. every nato ally is providing military or humanitarian aid to