Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis met with Finnish Minister of Defense Jussi Niinisto and Swedish Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist today at the Pentagon to reaffirm the strong trilateral defense relationship between the U.S., Finland
and Sweden.
Secretary Mattis headed
an armed forces full honor arrival welcoming the ministers to the Pentagon’s River Entrance parade field.
The secretary and the ministers began the event with the signing of a Trilateral Statement of Intent that will enhance the defense relationship in seven areas including defense policy dialogue, policy
and military-level interoperability, expanded regional situational awareness, strengthened capabilities and posture, combined multinational operations, strategic communications, and U.S.-NATO-EU cooperation
The three defense leaders then met and discussed topics including Russian malign influence in the trans-Atlantic security environment, participation in trilateral exercises to further improve relations, NATO and European Union cooperation, and the continuing D-ISIS campaign.