NATO envoys failed to reach a consensus on Wednesday about starting membership talks with Finland and Sweden, as Turkey raised objections.
The day had started off on an upbeat note. Stoltenberg had said that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests.
“I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners,” Stoltenberg said. “All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together, and we all agree that this is an historic moment which we must seize.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that the alliance stop expanding toward Russia’s borders, and several NATO allies, led by the United States and Britain, have signaled that they stand ready to provide security support to Finland and Sweden should the Kremlin try to provoke or destabilize them during the time it takes to become full members.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed their applications in a tweet and said that “Putin’s appalling ambitions have transformed the geopolitical contours of our continent.” Germany, Italy, the Baltic states and the Czech Republic all spoke favorably about the candidates.
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