The United States Awaits Sweden's NATO Membership Before the Summit

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pointed out today, Wednesday, that the United States is looking forward to welcoming Sweden as a member of NATO before the upcoming alliance summit in July. He stated, "We recently welcomed Finland as the 31st member of NATO and we look forward to soon welcoming Sweden as the 32nd." During his visit to Sweden, Austin mentioned, "We look forward to soon welcoming Sweden as the thirty-second member of NATO." He also encouraged their allies Turkey and Hungary to agree to Sweden's accession request as soon as possible. Austin is visiting Sweden to hold talks with Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson regarding the war in Ukraine and Sweden's NATO membership request.