The leaders of the so-called Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) countries are meeting today, Thursday, 26 March 2026, in Helsinki (Finland). The host for the summit is Finland's President Alexander Stubb.

On the agenda are continued support for Ukraine and the overall security situation in Europe, according to a press release from the President's Office.

Earlier this week, President Alexander Stubb met with the Netherlands' new Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who is participating in his first JEF summit. Stubb stated on X that the parties held a bilateral discussion on current foreign and security policy issues.

– It is important that we maintain close contacts with our close partners, such as the Netherlands. The state visit last autumn confirmed a great potential for cooperation, including in the area of overall security, he writes.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rob Jetten, published a post on social media commenting on the meeting with Stubb, also mentioning that he participated in a joint dinner with his Nordic colleagues.

– We discussed the crucial support for Ukraine, strengthening Europe's role in NATO, and our concerns regarding developments in the Middle East. Afterwards, I attended a working dinner with President Stubb, Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and Iceland's Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir. We discussed the good cooperation between the Netherlands and the Nordic countries, he writes.

In a speech to the JEF countries, published on social media, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky discusses how increased cooperation between Ukraine, JEF, and Europe strengthens collective security.

– I believe that we in Europe need to build closer cooperation between Ukraine, the JEF countries, and all European nations – to ensure real protection on land, in the air, and at sea, says Zelensky.

On social media, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reports that he met with Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo yesterday. In a press release, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom discusses how the country and JEF will handle the Russian shadow fleet.

– Putin is rubbing his hands at the war in the Middle East because he believes that higher oil prices will fill his pockets. Therefore, we are ramping up our efforts against his shadow fleet further, not only to keep the United Kingdom safe but also to starve Putin's war machine of the dirty profits that finance his brutal campaign in Ukraine, says Starmer in the press release.

The last JEF meeting took place in Norway in May 2025, where it was announced that JEF and Ukraine are expanding their partnership.

JEF is a multinational defence cooperation led by the United Kingdom. In addition to the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden are part of the cooperation.