Canada's Mark Carney heading to Norway to watch NATO exercises, meet with prime minister

Audio By Carbonatix

OTTAWA, Canada (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to visit Norway on Friday where he will observe a NATO exercise before visiting the United Kingdom, his office announced Monday.

Carney's office said he will observe the Norwegian-led NATO Cold Response exercise. Cold Response is run by NATO every two years and involves about 25,000 troops from 14 nations training together to perform land, air and sea operations in Arctic conditions.

Canada, the United States, the U.K., Germany, Netherlands, France, Sweden and Finland are among the countries taking part in the exercise.

“Canada is, and forever will be, an Arctic nation. In the face of new threats, we are deepening defense collaboration with our Arctic partners to create a stronger, more prosperous, and more secure world for Canada and for all," Carney said in a statement.

While in Oslo, Carney is expected to meet with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to discuss trade, investment, clean energy, critical minerals and the aerospace sector.

The Canadian prime minister will also attend the Canada-Nordic Summit to meet with Nordic leaders and talk about ways to enhance geopolitical co-operation.

Before returning to Canada, Carney plans to stop in London to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to talk about defense and the war in the Middle East.