The US signs a military cooperation agreement with Sweden
The US has signed a military agreement with Sweden that it says will protect the Nordic nation’s borders, while it awaits official accession to the NATO military alliance.
Sweden’s top defense official Karl Engelbrektson told local media on Sunday that Washington and Stockholm signed “a strategic agreement” that will serve as a framework for deepening defense cooperation between the two countries.
“Being a good friend of the United States is not wrong when it comes to war,” Engelbrektson said.
The Chief of Staff of the US Army General James McConville also praised the military agreement with Sweden and said that Washington is very concerned about possible military actions in the Arctic region.
He said Swedish forces are “experts” in such an environment.
“They can certainly share some expertise with us, and we can show some expertise that we have,” he added.
McConville also noted that the US Army “will provide troops and support as directed by our leadership.”
Earlier this year, Sweden and Finland broke with their decades-long stance of neutrality and submitted their applications for NATO membership to the US-led alliance.
The US Senate ratified their entry into the alliance in August. President Joe Biden described the Senate’s swift ratification process as a “historic vote.”
Biden said in a statement that the Senate move “sends an important signal of America’s enduring, bipartisan commitment to NATO and to ensuring that our alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.”
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would respond if NATO strengthened military infrastructure in the two Nordic states.
The Russian leader has on several occasions cited the post-Soviet expansion of the NATO alliance eastward towards Russia’s borders as a reason for the military offensive he declared in Ukraine on February 24. Key to a list of Russian demands from the West before the offensive was a guarantee that Kyiv would never become part of NATO.
In late September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also formally applied for fast-track NATO membership, ruling out talks with President Putin as the war in his country entered its eighth month.