The military of the United States, Finland and Sweden discussed the "harmful influence" of Russia

The Minister of Defense of the United States, Finland and Sweden James Mattis, Yussi Niinist and Peter Khultquist held a tripartite meeting in the Pentagon on May 8, at which they discussed the threat emanating from Russia.

"The leaders met and discussed various issues, including the harmful Russian impact on safety in the transatlantic region, participation in tripartite exercises to further improve relations, cooperation on NATO," the US Ministry of Defense said on the official website of the US Department of Defense.

The Pentagon also released excerpts from James Mattis's speech. "The destabilizing activity of Russia today reminds us that our general commitment to the principles of the rule of law and territorial integrity requires protection. In this regard, I would like to express our respect to the firm desire of Finland and Sweden to ensure global security," Mattis said.

He also noted that the “destabilizing role” of Russia is manifested in regions such as Eastern Europe (for the example of Ukraine) and the Middle East (for the example of Syria). According to Mattis, Moscow is trying to “change the state borders by the power of weapons,” and also interferes with democratic reforms in other countries.

The commanders of the Western armies discussed the problems of fighting Islamic terrorism, RIA Novosti reports.

According to the results of the meeting, the Ministry of Defense of Sweden noted that they would deepen military cooperation with the United States and Finland in the fields of coordination and strategic communication, as well as in the form of organizing joint military exercises.

Sweden and Finland are not members of the NATO military bloc, but both countries enter the European Union.