With Sweden poised to
become the 32nd member of NATO's
president, Biden
avoided what could have been
a serious headache
throughout the NATO's summit.
A short time ago,
I spoke with a Swedish prime minister
about Ukraine's
desperate push
to follow in Sweden's footsteps.
And in this CNN exclusive,
he shed some light on
President Biden's role
in clearing the path for Sweden to join
We have felt a very, very strong
support and commitment from the
United States and from President Biden
all the time.
And very explicitly
illustrated by the invitation
to the White House last week.
So we really feel a strong support
from from major NATO's allies,
including, of course,
our neighboring countries.
So all the details between
between other countries, I cannot
really tell we have had.
We have had
good negotiations
between Sweden and Turkey and
and the NATO's system itself
on fighting terrorism.
That has been the main the main
question for our for our discussions
Prime Minister, you mentioned
seeking protection
as one of the main goals
in your rejoining the alliance.
We've repeatedly
heard tough talk
from the Kremlin about Sweden and Finland
joining NATO's.
And today,
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson
for the Kremlin,
said that there would be countermeasures.
Do you read that as a threat
What is your level of concern
Well, we are
quite used to those threats
and the kind of threats
they have been repeated by the Russians
all the time
against Sweden and against Finland.
So that is nothing new.
But of course,
we are concerned by it, by a decision
from Asia and by other ways of trying to
to engage
in an illegitimate way
into the Swedish politics, of course.
But I think we are
we are strong people are almost immune,
immune against that kind of propaganda.
So I think we will handle this as well.
And
not least since
the scene
since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Everybody in the world, including Russia,
they know where we stand.
They know that we are on Ukraine's side
in this war.
We help Ukraine in different ways.
So so becoming a NATO
ally is a very natural step as well.
You'll get translation.
What should NATO's approach
then be to ending the war?
Do you believe that the West needs
to offer Vladimir Putin an off ramp
toward a cease fire?
Well, I don't have any
any other view
than most other countries right now
where we stand on Ukraine's side.
The Ukraine
must win on their terms.
The war must end and Ukraine's future
must lie in the hands of the Ukrainians.
All these are fundamental principles.
That also is the reason why we always
repeat the fact that
Ukraine is not only fighting.
It's the war for itself.
It's also fighting the war for all other
European and other democracies
that want to to
to decide the future by themselves.
So I think this is an
extremely important task.
And we will
we will do what it takes to
to to continue our help to Ukraine.
On that note, winning on Ukraine's terms,
at least publicly from President
Volodymyr Zelensky,
has meant retaking Crimea.
And military experts say
that that would require
a level of investment
in Ukrainian forces
that to this point has not been made.
Are you,
as part of NATO's, now
prepared to make
those significant investments?
And does it worry you
that it could lead to a further
escalation with Russia
Well, very many NATO
countries are providing
Ukraine with different kinds
of material weapons,
including Sweden, of course.
And that was also a historic decision
in Sweden to to start doing so.
But we have done it in a in a pretty
impressive way, if I may say myself,
and we continue to do that. So.
So I think that's the right way of
doing it.
Of course, the Ukrainians,
they they realize they need even more
and they are very precise in what they
and what they wish.
And I think we have done
our share of that.
And we continue to do our share of that.
But of
obviously different countries
or all countries
have to make their own decisions on that.
But I need to some if we feel
a very strong support for for Ukraine
for very natural reasons,
So not
long ago, Jens
Stoltenberg said that
NATO's would invite Ukraine
to join the alliance
when conditions are met.
What are those conditions
Well, I have to be honest,
Sweden, we are not yet
a full member of NATO's.
So I will not go into
I won't as a nonmember so far.
I will not have any
any views on how NATO's an organization
should should act
in relation to another country
which is not a need to members.
I think that that is a
that is a reasonable and necessary
principle for me right now.
We support
Ukraine and benefited different ways
and we do it together
with other countries as well.
But we don't have any views on
how need the right now should
act in relation to Ukraine.
Well, there
are significant
concerns from the White House,
for example, about domestic corruption
within Ukraine.
And national security spokesperson
John Kirby told CNN this morning
that Ukraine would need to work
on those issues
in order to be part of the alliance
that you will soon join.
Do you have concerns about corruption
in Ukraine?
Well,
as I said, on and on, the relation
between need two in Ukraine,
Sweden do not
and does
not have any any any opinions of our own
What I can
say, though,
is that since we've had
the same discussion
on Ukraine's cooperation on accession to
to the European Union,
I've been following
that extremely closely,
being the Swedish presidency.
And regarding that,
there were set up some criteria for
for Ukraine to to make progress
within to be able to to start
the negotiations.
And that
will be a full report
during fall
this year
on how these criterias are developing.
And I think most countries
and in the European
Union are very impressed by the ability
from the Ukrainians to to
to deliver results
on these areas
in spite of an ongoing war.
So basically,
I do believe in Ukraine,
but I will stick
to not having any opinions on
how NATO's
should act in regards to Ukraine.
Our thanks to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf
Kristersson for taking the time
during that busy day of NATO's diplomacy.