Outgoing Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen (Cen) makes his likely final trip in the position as he heads to a series of Nato meetings in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
On Thursday, Kaikkonen and Finland's Chief of Defence, General Timo Kivinen, will first participate in a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group. The US-led group, which includes more than 50 countries, will discuss Ukraine's counteroffensive and what help the country still needs.
On the sidelines of that conference, Kaikkonen will hold one-on-one talks with British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to discuss Ukraine and current Nato issues.
Kaikkonen will then join fellow Nato defence ministers for a meeting of the Nato-Ukraine Commission and then two days of talks in preparation for the Vilnius Summit on 11 and 12 July in Lithuania.
Stoltenberg: Ministers to boost support for Ukraine
Previewing the meeting on Wednesday, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that ministers would address stepping up support for Ukraine and strengthening deterrence and defence including with new regional plans.
According to a Nato handout, ministers are expected to agree on establishing a new Nato Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure in the UK.
They will also review a new defence production plan "to rapidly address shortfalls in Allied stocks, building on one billion US dollars in joint procurement just for 155mm ammunition underway this year by the Nato Support and Procurement Agency. Allies have now completed an exceptional review of national capability targets for battle-decisive munitions, and ministers are expected to increase the targets substantially," the alliance said.
Allies will also address a renewed Defence Investment Pledge for the Vilnius Summit, with spending of two percent of GDP on defence as a minimum rather than a maximum.
Sweden attends as observer
This is the last meeting of Nato defence ministers before the Vilnius Summit. Sweden will take part as an observer nation, as its membership bid remains stonewalled by Nato members Turkey and Hungary.
Stoltenberg said that he remained hopeful that Sweden could join by the Vilnius summit, and that he was working hard toward that end, including a string of recent meetings in Ankara and Washington.
Sweden and Finland applied to join the alliance simultaneously in May 2022. Finland became a full member of Nato on 4 April, two days after the Finnish election.
The Hungarian Parliament is to vote on Sweden's application by 7 July, the news agency AFP reported on Thursday. Hungary's ruling right-wing party has complained that Sweden has unfairly criticised its policies. Hungary and Turkey have both also pushed for a more accommodating line with Russia since its attack on Ukraine.
Unanimous backing is needed for new countries to join the alliance.
New minister to be named soon
Kaikkonen has been defence minister for four years except for the first two months of this year when he was on paternity leave. He is part of outgoing PM Sanna Marin's SDP-led caretaker government, which has remained in office since elections in April. Finland's next defence minister could be named within the next few days.
On Thursday morning, Finns Party chair Riikka Purra said that the four parties in the planned new right-leaning cabinet would begin divvying up ministerial portfolios on Thursday. Purra herself is likely to become finance minister and deputy prime minister, posts traditionally held by the leader of the second-largest party in a coalition cabinet.
13.51: Updated with news about Hungarian parliament.
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