Biden: ‘I will absolutely guarantee’ the U.S. will remain in NATO

President Biden on Thursday pledged that the U.S. will remain a reliable partner with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for decades to come, as the Senate weighs a bill that would block any U.S. president from leaving the military alliance without Senate approval.

“I will absolutely guarantee it. There is no question,” Mr. Biden said at a joint press conference from Helsinki with Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto, when asked if the U.S. would remain committed to NATO.

“There’s overwhelming support from the American people, there’s overwhelming support from the members of the Congress, both House and Senate and both parties — notwithstanding the fact that there are some extreme elements of one party — we will stand together,” Mr. Biden said.

Mr. Biden’s remarks come after a NATO meeting in which the decades-old military alliance admitted Finland as its newest member, a move the president has championed. He said the admission of Finland underscores how seriously the U.S. takes its commitment to Europe.

While Mr. Biden stressed the importance of NATO, Congress is weighing a bipartisan effort that would block any U.S. president from leaving NATO without lawmakers’ approval. In 2018, President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw the U.S. from NATO if members didn’t boost their military spending.

The joint, bipartisan resolution includes sponsors Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, and Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican. Both are members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The bill has been introduced repeatedly in recent years, dating back to Mr. Trump’s raising objections to the alliance relying too heavily on U.S. funding.

The measure has yet to pass the full Senate, but it would likely win the support of Mr. Biden, who has been a strong supporter of NATO.

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.