US President Joe Biden, Finnish President Sauli Niiniste and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson during a meeting at the White House. May 19, 2922WASHINGTON, May 19 US President Joe Biden receives at the White House Finnish counterpart Sauli Niiniste and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, whose countries have applied to join NATO. Local TV channels showed how Biden meets both guests at the White House. They will then hold a trilateral meeting, which will be joined by US Vice President Kamala Harris, and will make brief statements to the press. Later on Thursday, Biden will travel to South Korea and Japan. Finland and Sweden abandoned years of neutrality after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. What will happen if the Swedes and Finns join an alliance
