WASHINGTON (AFP) – United States President Joe Biden will host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson next week to talk about transatlantic security cooperation and the war in Ukraine, the White House said yesterday.
The two leaders “will review our growing security cooperation and reaffirm their view that Sweden should join NATO as soon as possible,” the White House said in a statement about the July 5 meeting.
Sweden asked to join NATO in May 2022, three months after the war in Ukraine, but its membership bid, which must be ratified by all 31 member states, has been blocked by Turkyie and Hungary.
Western officials had hoped to formally welcome Sweden into the bloc by the time a NATO summit is held in Lithuania on July 11-12.
At the White House meeting, Biden and Kristersson will also “discuss our shared commitment to supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s brutal war of aggression,” the White House said.
