The Northern European alliance of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) was expanded on Wednesday to include a partnership with Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defense announced. In the opinion of the head of the ministry, John Healey, this is a clear signal sent to Vladimir Putin, which is: “your aggression will be met with our strength.”
Ukraine's admission to this agreement took place with the participation of the defense ministers of eleven member states, including Ukrainian Minister Denys Shmyhal, in Bodoe, Norway.
The British ministry's statement says that entering into a partnership with Kiev will strengthen the Baltic Sea and High North region in connection with cooperation in the field of critical infrastructure protection, the use of drones, battlefield medicine and methods of countering disinformation. There are also plans to organize training courses conducted by JEF for the Ukrainian armed forces.
See also: Putin is threatening again. “There will be retaliatory actions”
“Our new, expanded partnership with Ukraine will enable JEF countries to provide further support to Kiev to put Ukrainians in the best possible position to defend their freedom,” said John Healey, head of the British Ministry of Defense.
Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that Ukraine is ready to strengthen the potential of the JEF countries and share its experience in, among others, counteracting hybrid warfare or carrying out long-range attacks. He also stated that Ukraine plans to take part in the maneuvers organized by JEF.
JEF, which was founded in 2018, currently includes eleven countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine, as well as the country holding the presidency, the United Kingdom.
See also: Alarming report. The Russians are recruiting soldiers in another country
Ukraine is also trying to join key Western institutions – primarily NATO and the European Union. However, it is doubtful that this will happen in the coming years.
