US secretary of state Antony Blinken has welcomed Finland as the 31st member of Nato and says the alliance has Vladimir Putin to thank for the move.

Finland decided to join the alliance after Russia’s invasion of one of its other neighbouring countries, Ukraine, in 2022.

“I’m tempted to say this is maybe the one thing we can thank Mr Putin for,” Mr Blinken said.

“Because he once again here is precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia’s aggression, causing many countries to believe that they have to do more to look out for their own defence.”