Washington DC

The United States and Finland struck a deal on Thursday (local time) to build 11 icebreakers - four in Finland, seven in the United States as US ups its stakes in the Arctic Circle. The parties of the deal include Finnish companies, known for their arctic expertise and the United States Coast Guard.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb highlighted the growing strategic importance of the Arctic and said that the cooperation would benefit both the countries. He also mentioned that Finland and Europe are keen to continue their dialogue with the United States for their support towards Ukraine.

The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Helsinki and Washington came during the Finnish President and Prime Minister's visit to the White House.

During the meeting at White House, Trump said, "We have a big order coming up, we are buying icebreakers."

The Finnish President said that the first issue discussed between him and Trump soon after the latter's election was the icebreakers.

"I remember our first conversation just after you had been elected in November. The first thing you mentioned was icebreakers, and then we've been working on this issue ever since. We're happy to announce that we're basically building 11 icebreakers together- four in Finland in joint endeavours and seven of them here (USA).

Upon meeting American senators, Stubb said, "While in the US, the Finnish President met several senators and said, "Our icebreaker collaboration is based on the goal of strengthening development and security in the Arctic. The strategic importance of the Arctic continues to grow, and we must ensure that Allied countries have the required capabilities to operate in the region. Finland and Europe are keen to continue the active dialogue with the U.S. in order to increase pressure on Russia to end its war of aggression and to ensure our continued support to Ukraine."

The White House fact sheet released on Thursday mentioned that Trump signed the MoU for the construction of the icebreakers to address the "urgent national security needs in the Arctic region".

The statement said that the collaboration would take place at an accelerated schedule, to revitalize the shipbuilding industry of both countries.

White House said that the MoU would address the growing strategic competition, aggressive military posturing, and economic encroachment by "foreign adversaries"--all of which threatens American interests in the Arctic.

It noted that as of now, the US Coast Guard's operational polar fleet includes just two Arctic Security Cutters, or as they are known- icebreakers, one of which was commissioned way back in 1976 and other being a commercial vessel commissioned into the Coast Guard in September this year.

White House noted that the Coast Guard thus assessed the need of at least 9 icebreakers to serve American national security interests year-round in the Arctic.

As per the statement, the foreign construction of icebreakers is a temporary measure to bridge a critical capability gap and that most of the ships will eventually be made in America.

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During his first term as the President, Trump had signed a Presidential Memorandum to speed up the US icebreaker program. The MoU with Finland comes as a key development to the development of Arctic security cutters and the rising interests of US in the region.