US urges Turkey to quickly ratify Sweden's NATO bid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States welcomed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's announcement on Friday that the country's parliament will begin ratifying Finland's NATO bid, and encouraged Turkey to quickly ratify Sweden's accession into the military alliance as well.

"Sweden and Finland are both strong, capable partners that share NATO’s values and will strengthen the Alliance and contribute to European security. The United States believes that both countries should become members of NATO as soon as possible," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas and Rami Ayyub; editing by Paul Grant)