'Thanks, Putin, you've done something': U.S. Senate Approves Finland and Sweden’s Membership to NATO

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted 95 to 1 to ratify Finland and Sweden’s entrance to NATO, calling expansion of the Western defensive bloc a “slam-dunk” for U.S. national security and a day of reckoning for Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports from the Capitol Hill.

"One person that I want to thank, that I usually don't give a whole big shout out to, is President Putin from Russia... You've done more to strengthen NATO than any speech I could hope to give," Sen. Lindsey Graham mocked the Russian President as the Senate debated a resolution.

Bob Menendez, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, said that enlarging NATO "is exactly the opposite of what Putin envisioned when he ordered his tanks to invade Ukraine. Indeed, he may have been trying to test the resolve of the alliance, and I am pleased that we have passed that test with overwhelming unity of vision and purpose,”

“It sends a warning shot to tyrants around the world who believe free democracies are just up for grabs,”  added Sen. Amy Klobuchar ahead of the vote. “Russia’s unprovoked invasion has changed the way we think about world security,” she said.

Senators invited the ambassadors of the both Nordic nations to witness the debate and the vote, a crucial step in opening a new era for the now 30-member NAO and its 73-year-old pact of mutual defense among the U.S. and democratic allies in Europe.

The Senate voted 95 to 1 to approve the resolution, with every member of the Democratic caucus and most Republicans voting in support. It ratifies protocols of accession that NATO allies signed on July 5.

The U.S. would be the 20th of 30 NATO countries to ratify the two nations’ entry.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.