Finland will sign on Monday, December 18, a defense cooperation agreement with the United States that provides for the sending of American soldiers and military equipment to contribute to the defense of the Nordic country, the Finnish government announced today.

Russia’s Nordic neighbor Finland became the newest member of the NATO military alliance earlier this year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The agreement with the United States is intended to allow rapid military access and assistance to Finland in the event of a conflict, officials said before the announcement.

“The fact that there will be no need to agree on everything individually makes it easier to organize operations in peacetime, but above all it can be vital in a crisis,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told reporters.

The agreement lists 15 facilities and areas in Finland to which the US military will have unfettered access and where it will also be able to store military equipment and ammunition, officials said.

Neighboring Sweden, which has also applied to join NATO but has been put on hold by opposition from alliance members Turkey and Hungary, signed a similar deal with the US last week, giving access to 17 areas, including four air bases. bases, a port and five military camps.

Norway, a member of NATO, has given the US military access to four areas on its territory, according to its own Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Finland will not allow the storage or transfer of nuclear and biological weapons or anti-personnel mines on its soil, in line with international nuclear non-proliferation treaties to which it has committed in the past, officials said.

The US military may have a permanent presence and conduct regular exercises in Finland, but there are no plans for permanent bases, they said.

The agreement will be signed in Washington on Monday, before formal ratification by the two countries’ legislatures.