The issue of Turkey was also raised during the visit of the Commander of the Armed Forces. Turkey is fighting against Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership.
Chairman of the U.S. Council of Defense Commanders, General Mark Milley has visited Finland on Friday.
Milley met with the host of the Defense Forces Commander, General, who hosted the visit Timo Kivisen in addition to the president Sauli Niinistö and the Minister of Defense Antti Kaikkonen (center).
Kaikkonen says that he and Milley went through Finland’s NATO application process, the situation in Ukraine and the defense co-operation between Finland and the United States.
– The United States strongly supports the membership of Finland and Sweden. We went through the current situation and said that it would be good to move forward quickly.
Turkey has been at odds with Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO application process. The issue of Turkey was also raised during Milley’s visit.
– Finland and Sweden will discuss NATO with Turkey in the next phase. Let’s see how far we can go. The United States is also ready to support our process in various ways, Kaikkonen says.
Defense co-operation is being further intensified
According to Kaikkonen, mutual defense co-operation between Finland and the United States will continue to be strong and will be further intensified in the future.
– The United States is our key partner, with whom we have been cooperating for a long time at an ever-increasing pace. The latest example of this is the F-35 project, which is progressing as planned.
Discussions have also taken place during the spring on deepening bilateral co-operation between Finland and the United States.
– NATO membership still opens up new opportunities for deepening it, Kaikkonen says.
Niinistö on the meeting: “Strong support for Finland’s NATO membership”
President Sauli Niinistö talks about the meeting on Twitter. He says he discussed with Milley about the stage and prospects of the war in Ukraine.
– Strong support for Finland’s NATO membership and bilateral defense co-operation between Finland and the United States, Niinistö describes the discussions.
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