On Thursday, July 13th, U.S. President Joe Biden and five of his Nordic counterparts met in the Finnish capital of Helsinki to reaffirm their “strong partnership” and “intensified cooperation” on security, environment, technology, and society.
Following NATO’s all-important summit in Vilnius, the meeting marked the third such summit between the leaders of the Nordic countries and the U.S.
Flanked by Finnish President Sauli Niinistö during their joint press conference, Biden said that Finland’s recent NATO accession would make “a gigantic difference,” and that he did not think the military alliance had “ever been stronger.”
“At this inflection point, the world is watching to see: will we do the hard work that matters to forge a better future? Will we stand together?… Will we stay committed to our course?” Biden continued. “This week, Finland and the U.S. and our allies and partners said a resounding, loud yes. Yes, we’ll step up. Yes, we’ll stand together. And yes, we’ll keep working toward a stronger, safer, and more secure world.”
In the aftermath of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden, breaking a decades-long tradition of neutrality, formally applied for NATO membership.
With Finland having become NATO’s 31st member in April, having won the approval of all member states, Sweden’s bid—after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan budged on the issue this week—only needs Hungary’s ratification.
With Sweden’s expected addition and the recent addition of Finland —which shares a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia—in mind, Biden said the U.S.’ decision to welcome them as a member “was a reminder that the nations around the table not only share a common history, we share common challenges, and I would add, presumptuously, common values.”
During the conference, a seemingly emboldened Biden (who just one week ago admitted that Kyiv was running out of ammunition, prompting the U.S. to send widely banned cluster bombs) said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “already lost the war.”
“Putin has a real problem. How does he move from here? What does he do?,” he said, predicting that the war will not go on “for years,” as Russia cannot “maintain the war forever … in terms of resources and capacity” and that Putin will ultimately decide “it’s not in the interest of Russia” to continue.
For his part, Finland’s president said that, with its accession to NATO, a “new era in Finnish security policy” had begun. He went on to thank Biden for having personally ensured unity between NATO allies in Vilnius which, he thought, was “greatly [largely] created” by him.
Following his separate meeting with Niinistö, Biden met with the leaders of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, with whom he discussed cooperation on technology (including 5G and artificial intelligence), efforts to combat climate change, and clean energy.
Biden’s visit to Finland was the first made by a U.S. president since former president—and current Republican candidate—Donald Trump’s exactly five years ago.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, leftist mainstream media outlets made much of the fact, pointing out how on the same site, Trump had had a two-hour one-on-one meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin—a performance which, with an eye towards the 2024 elections, they took pains to lambast, favoring Biden’s.
