Joe Biden arrives in Finland after Lithuania

He continues his tour of Europe and is now in the neighboring country of Russia. US President Joe Biden arrived in Finland on Wednesday evening for a 24-hour visit to Russia’s neighbor, which made its historic entry into NATO in April.

Air Force One’s presidential plane en route from Vilnius, home of the annual Atlantic Alliance summit, landed at around 2200 local time (1900 GMT) at Helsinki International Airport. On Thursday, Joe Biden is scheduled to meet Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, the chief architect of Finland’s NATO membership, as well as other Nordic leaders.

Turning the page on decades of neutrality imposed by Moscow after World War II and then military non-alignment after the end of the Cold War, Finland became the 31st member of the Atlantic Alliance on April 4, a setback for Moscow.

Safety, ecology, technologies in the program

This country, which has a common border with Russia for more than 1,300 km, was a supporter of dialogue between Westerners and Russia before the invasion of Ukraine. A position that materialized in 2018 as a result of a summit on its territory, which brought together then-U.S. President Donald Trump and his counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Thursday’s discussions should focus on “collaboration between the Nordic countries and the United States on security, environment and technology issues,” according to the Finnish chairman. This visit is the latest leg of Biden’s European tour after a visit to London and a NATO summit in Vilnius, mainly devoted to the war in Ukraine.

The West unveiled a plan for a long-term security commitment to Ukraine on Wednesday, the second day of the summit, that dashed President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hopes for a firm timetable for his country’s integration into the Alliance.

The summit also marked the progress towards membership of Sweden, which applied along with Finland in May 2022. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan eventually agreed to lift Turkey’s veto, but stressed on Wednesday that his country’s mandatory ratification would only happen in October after parliamentary recess ends.