Signal for Russia: Biden to make historic visit to Finland ahead of NATO summit

The media note that with this visit, the United States wants to send a signal to Russia about its commitment to protecting Finland and all the Nordic countries.

US President Joe Biden will visit Helsinki in early July, where the US-Nordic summit will take place .

According to the Finnish edition Iltalehti , citing sources, if implemented, the visit will be historic: it will be the first time a sitting US president visits Finland, and the meeting will not be directly related to the superpower’s relations with Russia.

Biden’s visit to Finland will coincide with the start of the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12. Thus, the possible visit time could be the previous weekend, i.e. July 8-9.

Sources told Iltalehti that with this visit, the United States wants to send a signal to Russia that the United States is committed to protecting Finland and all the Nordic countries.

Finland and the war in Ukraine

In early May, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, following the summit of the leaders of the Nordic countries, adopted a statement in which they declared their support for Ukraine on the path to membership in the EU and NATO.

On April 4, Finland officially joined NATO , becoming the 31st member country of the Alliance. This led to an increase in the land border of the Russian Federation with NATO twice.