Stockholm, Feb 23 (IANS): The leaders of Sweden, Finland and Norway vowed to strengthen defence cooperation in the face of common security challenges.

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store met on Wednesday in Harpsund, nearly 120 km southwest of Stockholm.

Harpsund is a country retreat for the Prime Minister of Sweden. The three discussed common security challenges and cooperation on foreign, security and defence policy issues.

A Swedish government statement released on Wednesday said that the security situation had deteriorated due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Norway, Finland and Sweden, together with our Nordic neighbours, have a shared responsibility to respond to security challenges in the region, including in our northern areas," the statement said, adding that as Sweden and Finland are on their way to join the NATO, "we are working in a more integrated way to strengthen security."

"We will continue to deepen our cooperation in large-scale exercises in the coming years. Our defence cooperation is closely coordinated with our Nordic neighbours and our close partners, including the US and the UK," it said.

"Our countries' northernmost regions are more sparsely populated than other areas, and their climate and geography present particular challenges. At the same time, there is great potential for deeper cooperation in these areas, given their location and unique conditions for collaboration on the green transition, space and the extraction of rare earth metals," it added.

Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022 in the wake of the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Their accession to NATO requires the approval of all member states of the military alliance. Turkey and Hungary, both members of NATO, have yet to give their approval.