President Biden on Tuesday signed the U.S.’ ratification of Finland and Sweden’s membership in NATO, offering what he said was “proof” that the Western alliance’s “door remains open to countries in Europe,” despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning against further expansion.
Mr. Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine in February in part as a rebuke to NATO, which has expanded steadily toward Russia in the decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union. But instead of sowing discord in the alliance, his war is poised to add two historically neutral new members to NATO and vastly expanded the alliance’s border with Russian territory.