US president Joe Biden agreed to “confront” any threats to the security of Finland and Sweden during their bids to join Nato, describing their potential accession as a “momentous” step to strengthen the transatlantic military alliance.
Biden spoke Thursday from the White House’s Rose Garden flanked by Finland’s president Sauli Niinistö and Sweden’s prime minister Magdalena Andersson, who were visiting Washington after formally submitting their Nato applications earlier in the week.
“Today, the president, the prime minister and I committed that we’re going to work together to remain vigilant against the threats to our shared security and deter and confront any aggression while Finland and Sweden are in this accession process,” Biden said. “There’s nothing that’s going to be missed, as my mother would say, between the cup and the lip”.