"America’s alliances and partnerships are the strongest they’ve ever been – a hallmark of President Biden’s approach to the world to advance our interests and values," the White House said on Twitter on Sunday.
The approach includes strengthening NATO’s collective security, deepening transatlantic partnerships, and having Finland and Sweden join NATO, according to the White House.
NATO leaders finalized a new strategic concept at the summit in Madrid held at the end of June, which designates Russia as "the most significant and direct threat" and also accuses Beijing of "subverting the rules-based international order."
Moscow has repeatedly stated that NATO is an alliance aimed at confrontation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in early April that further expansion of the alliance eastward is aggressive in nature and will not make Europe more secure. At the same time, he pointed out that the Kremlin did not consider the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO an existential threat to Russia.
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev warned in July that NATO’s new doctrinal documents could cause an escalation of tensions and destabilization in Europe.