NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg . File photoWASHINGTON, Jun 21 The US did not set a hard date for Finland and Sweden to join NATO, but wanted to complete the process quickly, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday. -or set a deadline (for Finland and Sweden to join NATO). Of course, we wanted a quick conclusion, but the process requires the consensus of all NATO members,» he said.
Finland has announced a new date for joining NATO after the failure in the negotiations, Price also clarified that the United States is not part of the ongoing negotiations between Finland, Sweden and Turkey to resolve existing differences, but is supporting a broad discussion of this issue. Representatives of Turkey, Sweden and Finland discussed the security issues raised by Ankara on June 20 at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. As a result, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö admitted that «no special progress was made» at the meeting and expressed the opinion that the issue of his country's accession to NATO could hardly be resolved before September. On May 18, the Ambassadors of Finland and Sweden to NATO presented the Secretary General Alliance Jens Stoltenberg applications for their countries to join the North Atlantic Alliance. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan then said that Ankara would not support the admission of two northern countries to NATO until they determined their attitude towards terrorist organizations. The Turkish leadership has repeatedly voiced this position, including at negotiations with their colleagues and representatives of international organizations. in NATO
