Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said he discussed his nation’s bid to join NATO during an impromptu meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday.
(Bloomberg) — Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said he discussed his nation’s bid to join NATO during an impromptu meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday.
Niinisto said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that the pair discussed Finland and Sweden’s NATO applications, which are still awaiting final ratification, and the larger “geopolitical situation worldwide.”
Biden joined a meeting between Niinisto and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, according to the White House. The two leaders also talked about their efforts to help Ukraine counter Russia’s invasion.
Niinisto, 74, is the architect behind Finland and Sweden’s applications to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a move aimed at boosting collective security following Russia’s unprovoked attack on neighboring Ukraine. Officials in Finland, which borders Russia, and Sweden, just a short distance from the Kaliningrad exclave, were alarmed by the invasion and applied for membership in May.
Niinisto, who last spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in May, has been described as the “Putin whisperer.” Asked if he would ever speak to his Russian counterpart again, Niinisto said he saw no upside to such a discussion.
“I have said that I’m totally prepared to speak with him if there is some benefit from that, but at the moment we haven’t found out anything such,” he said.
As the Nordic nation awaits the final ratifications of its bid to join NATO, Niinisto said his country had always been prepared to protect its border, pointing to steps such as maintaining conscription and purchasing F-35 fighter jets.
“We have always been prepared to protect our borders, and joining NATO surely gives, in my thinking, more coverage that nothing will happen,” he said.
The Finnish leader is visiting Washington as part of a week-long US trip that’s included stops in Seattle and Palo Alto, California, and is due to meet with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy later Thursday.
Finland’s entry into NATO, pending signoffs from Hungary and Turkey, would lengthen the alliance’s border by 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) — doubling its eastern flank — as well as adding an army strong in firepower.
NATO and the Nordic countries have called for completing the expansion as fast as possible — at the latest by a summit to be held in Vilnius in July. The process is, so far, the fastest in the alliance’s history, but Turkey has voiced concerns over Sweden’s entry, and Hungary has dragged its feet without detailing its reasons.
Lawmakers from Budapest visited the two Nordic capitals this week for talks ahead of a potential parliamentary vote later this month, and talks with Turkey were held in Brussels on Thursday.
–With assistance from Jennifer Jacobs, Ott Ummelas and Leo Laikola.
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