Yle News
June 14, 2022

Finnish defence minister headed to Nato dinner meeting

Minister Kaikkonen is also scheduled to hold a number of bilateral meetings on Wednesday, including with Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, Oleksii Reznikov.

Finland’s Minister of Defence, Antti Kaikkonen, will attend a Nato defence ministers’ dinner meeting on Wednesday evening in Brussels, the defence ministry announced on Tuesday.

Planned discussion topics include Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the effects the conflict has had on Europe’s security situation.

Apart from Kaikkonen and ministers from Nato’s 30 member states, the meeting is also set to include defence ministers from Sweden, Georgia and Ukraine. The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has also been invited to the working dinner.

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That gathering will discuss the situation in Ukraine as well as support offered to the country. The Ukraine Defence Contact Group is made up of members from 40 countries which coordinate military aid deliveries to Ukraine, according to the ministry.

Kaikkonen is also scheduled to hold a number of bilateral meetings in Brussels, including with Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, Oleksii Reznikov, the ministry said.