The Pentagon is considering plans to expand the exercises with Finland, Sweden in the middle of NATO’s bid
HELSINKI – The US military is considering how to increase its participation in planned military exercises with Sweden and Finland when NATO member countries consider their applications, the US Supreme General said on Friday.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Finland and Sweden would provide NATO with “significant military capability” when he arrived here on Friday to meet with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen and Chief of Defense Gen. Timo Kivinen.
Prior to the discussions, Milley said they would focus on “the way forward for their NATO applications and what operations, activities, exercises we US as part of NATO will do to support them in improving our preparedness and interoperability.”
All NATO members must accept the two Nordic nations’ offer to join the alliance, which was driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey has said it will not allow their accession unless certain measures are taken, which raises questions about the measures that NATO allies will take with Finland and Sweden in the meantime.
“We, the military, have a variety of plans with NATO … to conduct exercises in all domains – air, sea, land, et cetera. So we will do that,” Milley said, adding that final decisions by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and others “are still under consideration from a political perspective.”
“We are developing plans to not only maintain the training programs we have done but to increase them moderately,” Milley added.
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Ahead of this summer’s NATO summit, Milley is in Europe both to show support for allies united against Russia’s invasion and to help coordinate military aid to Ukraine ahead of a third meeting of donor countries convened by Austin, as of June 15.
An American reading of Milley’s meeting with Niinisto said that they discussed European security in the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US-Finland defense partnership and how Finland’s accession to NATO “will strengthen US and Euro-Atlantic security.”
Milley will be in Sweden later this week when it starts the annual large-scale BALTOPS exercise against the background of the fleet’s 500th anniversary. To demonstrate amphibious, anti-submarine, cannon and air defense operations, 14 NATO allies, plus Sweden and Finland, will bring 45 ships, more than 75 aircraft and about 7,000 personnel, according to the alliance.
Over the past six months, Finland has quietly increased its participation in military exercises with European partners, added eight new exercises and changed 12 others, says security and defense policy expert Charly Salonius-Pasternak from the Finnish International Institute.
Turkey has cited concerns over Finland and Sweden joining NATO in their alleged support for Kurdish militants, whom they consider to be terrorists, and restrictions on arms sales to Turkey. These are widely regarded by analysts as an object of negotiation that could create a backlash against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if the matter drags on.
“Finland is probably a side injury here … In the end, I think it’s about [the] The United States and perhaps some other major European countries that the deal will actually be about, says Salonius-Pasternak.
Joe Gould is a senior reporter from the Pentagon for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry.