Merve Aydogan
08 July 2026•Update: 08 July 2026
Canada and the UK said Wednesday their respective defense financing initiatives should develop in a coherent and mutually supportive way, in a statement by prime ministers Mark Carney and Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.
"Canada and the United Kingdom recognise the shared challenge facing like-minded partners in scaling defence industrial capacity, strengthening resilience, and supporting deterrence and defence," said the statement, welcoming growing allied interest in multilateral approaches to defence financing and procurement.
They said the initiatives "have the potential to support investment in defence industrial capacity, improve coordination across allies, and enhance the availability and interoperability of capabilities," and can operate in parallel to support collective defence and security.
The statement said the efforts of countries backing the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank and the Multilateral Defence Mechanism "have a high degree of complementarity," and together can improve defense investment across the supply chain.
Canada and the UK also pledged to "continue to engage closely" to ensure coherence between the initiatives and to cooperate where possible within their agreed mandates, while encouraging other partners to join the discussions.
Separately, Carney met Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, and announced that Canada will extend "Operation REASSURANCE" until 2031 and increase persistently deployed personnel to up to 2,600. The operation that was launched in 2014 and is Canada’s largest overseas mission with personnel deployed to Central and Eastern Europe to bolster NATO's eastern flank and deter Russian aggression.
He also confirmed Canada will join Latvia and Denmark as the third Framework Nation for NATO's Multinational Division North (MND-N). The two discussed the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, with Carney welcoming Latvia's support and exploring broader participation.
In a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Carney congratulated her on forming a new government and confirmed Canada's role as MND-N's third Framework Nation, alongside Latvia and Denmark. The leaders discussed expanding trade, defense, Arctic security, energy and critical minerals cooperation, noting that trade has doubled in the last decade.
Both meetings saw the leaders reaffirm their support for Ukraine and agree to maintain pressure on Russia through sanctions while pursuing a just and lasting peace.
