Sweden’s Defense Minister Pal Jonsson said on Wednesday that he hopes his country will become a NATO member before the military alliance’s summit in Vilnius, scheduled for July this year, Reuters reported.

The US looks forward to welcoming Sweden as a NATO member ahead of the alliance’s upcoming summit, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday during a visit to Sweden.

“We look forward to welcoming Sweden as the 32nd (NATO member) soon. To be clear, we look forward to seeing that happen before the summit in July,” Austin said at a news conference.

“We call on our allies, Turkey and Hungary, to ratify Sweden’s accession as soon as possible,” Austin said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reinvigorated the 30-nation Western military alliance, leading to a significant increase in spending and new membership applications from Finland and Sweden.

At the beginning of April, Finland became the 31st member of NATO.

For Russia, this further strengthening of NATO’s eastern flank is unacceptable, as it leaves open the prospect of the alliance deploying troops and advanced weapons near it.

With the help of its ally Belarus, Russian forces launched a crackdown in Ukraine to stop President Volodymyr Zelensky’s continued turn to the West.