President Joe Biden on Thursday offered the “strong support” of the United States to Finland and Sweden in the two historically neutral Nordic nations’ bids to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, calling the occasion a ‘very, very good day’.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden alongside Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Mr Biden said he and his advisers have been closely consulting with both leaders “at every stage” as each determined whether to join the alliance in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
