"We are stronger together and we have discussed issues that are truly critical for all of us," said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at a press conference, after the meeting in Oslo that brought together the five Nordic prime ministers and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Ulf Kristersson later told TT that for Sweden, it is largely about concrete military issues.
"We already have an important collaboration when it comes to Global Eye," he says, referring to Saab's airborne surveillance and warning system.
"Canada builds the aircraft on which the entire Global Eye system is mounted," says Kristersson.
"Not an effective way"
Following reports of increased Canadian interest in choosing the Swedish Gripen instead of the American F-35 as its new fighter jet, both Kristersson and Carney state that a possible deal was not specifically discussed at Sunday's meeting. However, in response to TT's question, Carney responds:
Historically, when Canada has made defense purchases, more than 70 cents of every dollar has gone to the United States.
It is not an effective way to build our own industry, or to protect our people.
He is thus signaling greater openness to, for example, purchasing combat aircraft from Sweden and submarines from Europe.
We have a much broader range of countries we can collaborate with.
Kristersson is on the same track, saying Canada wants to rely less on its powerful southern neighbor.
There is a huge desire among them to, shall we say, be dependent on more countries. They have been very heavily dependent on the United States for a long time.
Will meet again
In a joint statement from the meeting, the six countries commit to continuing to meet to, among other things, work more closely together on security in the Arctic and to strengthen defense industrial capacity.
"We will continue to cooperate through military missions and activities, such as NATO's forward-deployed land forces in Finland, the Baltic countries and Poland, where our forces contribute to strengthening NATO's eastern flank and deterring Russian aggression."
The countries also emphasize that support for Ukraine in the war against Russia remains firm and urge the "coalition of the willing" to increase its support.
