TEHRAN (Tasnim) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet with top US officials starting on Wednesday, almost two weeks after top leaders from Finland and Sweden met with US President Joe Biden to join the military alliance.
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Stoltenberg will meet Foreign Minister Antony Blinken on Wednesday and the two will hold a press conference, according to a press release from NATO. He will make joint comments with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday, The Hill reported.
NATO Secretary General is also expected to meet with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, according to a NATO press release.
Earlier this month, Biden met with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, whose countries have formally applied for NATO membership after the war between Russia and Ukraine changed nations’ positions on joining the alliance.
Biden expressed his support for both joining the military alliance and said: “Finland and Sweden make NATO stronger.”
Stoltenberg also met with Finnish and Swedish officials earlier this month after the countries submitted their applications. All 30 NATO nations must agree on NATO membership for both, even though Turkey has opposed their membership.
On Friday, Blinken said that the United States was “certain” that both countries could join the military alliance.
“There is a very strong consensus in NATO for the adoption of Finland and Sweden, and I remain convinced that we will work through this process quickly and that things will move forward with both countries,” he said.
Source: sn.dk