US says it’s time for Finland, Sweden to join NATO

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it’s time for Turkey to ratify Finland and Sweden’s applications to join NATO. The State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed resolute U.S. support for their memberships in Thursday phone calls with the Finnish and Swedish foreign ministers. Blinken told his counterparts that the U.S. places great importance on “remaining allies quickly ratifying their accession,” according to nearly identical statements about the two calls. The statements did not mention Turkey by name, but the calls came just a day after Blinken met with the foreign minister of Turkey, whose country is the most ardent NATO holdout against Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.