Chuck Schumer Says Sweden Joining NATO Shows Russia That Alliance Is Strong, United Against His Ukraine Invasion

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, on Monday, said Sweden joining NATO "is good news in the fight against the forces of autocracy."

What Happened: Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to support Sweden's long-delayed membership of NATO, paving the way for the Nordic country to join the US-led bloc after more than a year of opposition from Ankara.

In a tweet, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg announced that Erdogan had a meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and reached an agreement regarding Sweden’s NATO membership. 

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"Sweden joining NATO shows [Vladimir] Putin that the Alliance is strong, united, and growing stronger against his aggression in Ukraine," Schumer tweeted.

Erdogan agreed to "forward the accession protocol for Sweden [to join Nato] to the Grand National Assembly as soon as possible and work closely with the assembly to ensure ratification," Stoltenberg said after hours of negotiations. 

The Biden administration has been urging Turkey and Hungary to approve Sweden’s membership in NATO.

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Biden will meet his Turkish counterpart Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Europe on Tuesday. The bilateral meeting is scheduled in Vilnius, Lithuania, following a group photo with NATO heads of state and a larger meeting involving all NATO heads of state, including Sweden.

Biden and Erdoğan also spoke ahead of the summit on Sunday and according to the National security adviser Jake Sullivan "they agreed that the two of them would have the opportunity to sit down together in Vilnius."

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