Italy to Welcome Finland, Sweden to NATO as UK 'Will Support' Any Decision

ROME (Sputnik) - Finland and Sweden will be well received by NATO, should they join, as both countries meet all necessary legal requirements, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Thursday.

"NATO is a defensive alliance, and countries that want to join feel more secure under the NATO auspices. If Sweden and Finland want to join NATO, they will be well received, because they have no problems with standards," Di Maio told the Rai1 TV channel, noting that around two thirds of the Finnish population support the idea.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Thursday that the UK will support any decision by Sweden and Finland over their future regarding NATO.

"Sweden and Finland are free to choose their future without interference - the UK will support whatever they decide," Truss said on her social media.

On 2 April, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said the decision on the country's possible entry into NATO would be made in spring. Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen said on Thursday that the country's parliament will begin discussing the issue of joining NATO after Easter.

The Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Finland had invited Sweden to jointly file applications for NATO membership. The British newspaper Times said that Sweden and Finland intend to join NATO this summer.

Earlier today, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said that if Sweden and Finland join NATO, Russia will have more officially registered adversaries, and will have to strengthen ground forces, air defense, and deploy significant naval forces in the Gulf of Finland.