US Senate Majority leader says Sweden, Finland ought to join NATO if ready

Sweden and Finland ought to join NATO as early as tomorrow if they are ready and willing, US Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday.

"Sweden and Finland, two countries tIhat have never belonged to NATO, are thinking about joining, and I think we ought to sign them up tomorrow if they're ready to join," McConnell said during a new conference.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday invited Sweden and Finland to attend a NATO virtual summit on the situation in and around Ukraine on Friday. On the same day, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that Finland will be ready to join NATO "if the issue of national security becomes acute."

The countries' interest in NATO membership emerged as a result of Russian military operations in Ukraine, which Russian President Vladimir Putin said aims to demilitarize and de-nazify the country in defense of the self-declared republics in the Donbas region.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that Moscow will have to respond if Sweden and Finland become NATO members.