Joint Expeditionary Force ministers meet in Iceland, advance Canada’s bid and deeper Ukraine ties

Defence ministers of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) met at Keflavik Air Base in Iceland on 2 October and agreed to deepen the group’s work with Ukraine, open the way to Canadian membership and develop common responses to Russian hybrid activity. The UK Ministry of Defence published the joint statement the next day.

The JEF is a UK-led framework of northern European countries focused on the Baltic Sea, the High North and the North Atlantic. Ministers confirmed these regions as its core area of strategic interest, according to the official statement.

Ukraine and Canada

Ukraine’s defence minister, named in the statement as Khamara, joined the meeting virtually to mark delivery of the JEF-Ukraine Enhanced Partnership, set up in 2025. For the first time this year Ukraine took part in the JEF’s flagship Lion Protector exercise, with Ukrainian mine countermeasure vessels operating alongside JEF forces. Ministers agreed to bring Ukraine into more JEF activities.

Canadian Defence Minister McGuinty attended. Ministers noted Canada’s application to join the Framework and moved ahead with a shared recommendation on Canadian membership, which is to go to JEF leaders. They also agreed the group’s overall policy direction and a common framework for engaging partners.

Deterrence and Russia

Ministers received an update on Lion Protector, which runs across Iceland and Norway this autumn and is synchronised with the UK Carrier Strike Group. They reviewed the JEF’s five-year programme of activity and work to align its response options with NATO regional plans, stressing the group’s role below the threshold of NATO’s Article 5.

The statement refers to “Russia’s unacceptable acts of sabotage” against JEF nations and other allies and says ministers will keep developing common approaches to hybrid threats. It adds that the JEF nations “do not seek confrontation and pose no threat to Russia, but Russia should be in no doubt that we will defend ourselves.”

Industry and next steps

After two meetings of JEF national armaments directors since the Ankara summit, ministers asked for concrete proposals on defence industrial cooperation before their next meeting. The military services are also working on a “Northern Navies” concept. Iceland will host the next JEF leaders’ summit in Reykjavik in spring 2027.