Joe Biden, President of the United States of America (USA), has offered support for Sweden and Finland’s bids to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Biden promised his strong support while welcoming Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister of Sweden, and Sauli Niinisto, President of Finland, at the White House on Thursday.
According to CBS News, Biden promised to back the nations’ bids as they met for trilateral conversations on the NATO mutual defence pact and broader European security concerns.
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“Today I’m proud to welcome and offer the strong support in the United States for the applications of two great democracies, and two close, highly capable partners to join the strongest, most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world,” Biden was quoted to have said.
“They meet every NATO requirement and then some. Having two new NATO members in the high north will enhance the security of our alliance.
“I am proud to assure them that they have the full, total, complete backing of the United States of America.”
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Vladimir Putin, Russian President, has demanded that NATO stop expanding towards Russia’s borders.
However, several NATO allies have signaled that they stand ready to provide security support to Finland and Sweden should Russia attempt to destabilise them during the time they ask to join the alliance.
On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine after the country attempted to join NATO, expanding the alliance towards Russian borders.
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