WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has scheduled a diplomatic trip to Europe this month with stops in the United Kingdom, at the NATO summit in Lithuania and for meetings in Finland, the White House said Sunday.
Biden is set to depart July 9 for "engagements" with the UK's King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the White House said in a statement. He will then continue to the NATO summit in Vilnius followed by a visit to Helsinki for the US-Nordic Leaders Summit.
Biden had been widely expected to attend the NATO summit. The US has said that the alliance is nearly consensus on how to address Ukraine's membership push at the upcoming summit, as the Eastern European country -- with support from Western nations -- continues fighting off a Russian invasion.
White House says Biden spoke with leaders of France, Germany and UK amid developments in Russia
The trip comes as the White House prepares to welcome Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Washington ahead of the talks in Vilnius, to talk about Stockholm's ambitions to join the alliance.
Sweden asked to join NATO in May 2022, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, but its membership bid, which must be ratified by all 31 member states, has been blocked by Turkiye and Hungary.
Top diplomats from Turkiye and Sweden will meet on Thursday, the day after Kristersson's White House visit, at NATO headquarters in Brussels for talks on Stockholm's bid to join the alliance.
Turkiye dropped objections to Sweden's Nordic neighbor Finland joining earlier in the year and Helsinki became a NATO member in April.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week denounced Stockholm for allowing a protest during which a man burned pages from the Koran. On Sunday, the Swedish government called the incident "Islamophobic."
Western allies and Stockholm have insisted that Sweden has met the terms of a deal to join the alliance agreed to with Ankara last year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday he wanted his country to receive an "invitation" at the Vilnius summit to join NATO once the war with Moscow is over.
"We need a very clear and understandable signal at the Vilnius summit that Ukraine can become an equal member of NATO after the war," he told reporters in Kyiv alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
"This invitation to the alliance is the first, very practical step, it would be very important for us."
During the stop in Britain, Biden will visit Windsor Castle to meet with King Charles III for the first time since the monarch's coronation, as well as hold more talks in London with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a month after his Washington visit.
Biden will seek to "further strengthen the close relationship" with Britain, the White House said, adding that more details about the trip will be announced soon.
The visit "reflects the strong relationship between the UK and US," a statement from Downing Street said, adding that Sunak "looks forward to welcoming President Biden in the UK later this month."
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