Blinken "Fully Anticipates" Sweden's NATO Bid Ratified By Vilnius Summit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told reporters, following an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo, Norway, that he "fully anticipates" Sweden's NATO membership bid will be ratified by Turkey and Hungary in time for the July 11-12 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

• Biden administration and NATO officials have been bullish at the prospect of Turkey dropping its blockade on Sweden's NATO membership following Turkish President Recep Erdogan's re-election on Sunday, seen as reducing the political importance of Erdogan's opposition to Sweden's membership.
• White House National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters yesterday that the White House supports a plan to sell F-16 fighter planes to Turkey but clarified that the deal would not be part of a quid-pro-quo with Ankara in return of approving Sweden’s NATO membership bid.
• Kirby: “We want to see [Turkey ratify Sweden’s NATO membership], and [President Biden has] expressed those concerns as well when he talked to President Erdogan over the weekend, congratulating him on his win. But to suggest that there's some sort of linkage there would be erroneous.”