Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) is hosting the summit and Keir Starmer, prime minister of the U.K., which is JEF lead nation, along with the heads of government of the Netherlands, Latvia, Sweden, Norway and Denmark plus the heads of state of Finland and Lithuania, and the foreign minister of Iceland.

Government and state leaders began arriving at the Estonian Knighthood House (Rüütelkonna hoone) on Toompea on Tuesday morning, and delivered their doorstep brief statements and remarks.

The post-summit press conference live-link started at 12:15 p.m., while yesterday's panel discussion featuring prime ministers Michal and Starmer and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre can be watched again here.

The December 16-17 summit is focusing on deterrence, defense, and regional security in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Estonia aims to get defense spending boosted to 2.5 percent of GDP per year on the part of all participating nations, and to allocate 0.25 percent of GDP per year spending on Ukraine specifically.

Ukraine's support and potential integration into JEF is a key topic too, and the summit is also covering enhancing cooperation within the JEF framework, and between defense industry firms and players.

JEF is a maritime-focused initiative, led by the U.K. and aimed at acting as a "first responder" ahead of any invocation of NATO Article 5, which deals with collective defense.

The alliance consists of like-minded countries prepared to contribute quickly and flexibly to various operations, ranging from humanitarian crises to conventional warfare, and it is aimed at complementing NATO's activities and stances.

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