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

The Biden administration said Thursday it's time for Turkey to ratify Finland and Sweden's applications to join NATO, bluntly saying that holdout members of the alliance should quickly approve their memberships.

The State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had affirmed resolute support for Finland and Sweden in phone calls with their foreign ministers and said the US places great importance on "remaining allies quickly ratifying their accession."

In nearly identical statements about the two calls released just 13 minutes apart, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken had "reiterated U.S. support for Finland and Sweden's NATO accession."

"He conveyed again our firm belief that Finland and Sweden are ready to join the alliance," Price said of the calls with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka...