U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hosted Swedish Minister of Defense Pal Jonson on Tuesday at the Pentagon, where they signed the first-ever U.S.-Sweden Defense Cooperation Agreement, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement.

"The agreement will enable enhanced defense cooperation by establishing the conditions for U.S. forces to operate in Sweden, including the legal status of U.S. military personnel, access to deployment areas, pre-positioning of military materiel, and tax and customs regulations," the statement said.