The United States welcomed Türkiye's announcement to start the approval process for Finland's NATO membership bid, the White House said Friday.

"The United States welcomes President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan's announcement that he will send Finland's NATO accession protocols to the Turkish Parliament and looks forward to the prompt conclusion of that process," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

"We encourage Türkiye to quickly ratify Sweden's accession protocols as well. In addition, we urge Hungary to conclude its ratification process for both Finland and Sweden without delay," he added.

Noting that Sweden and Finland are both "strong, capable partners that share NATO's values," he said that they will "strengthen" the alliance and contribute to European security.

"The United States believes that both countries should become members of NATO as soon as possible," he added.

Türkiye on Friday said it is approving the process of Finland's NATO membership protocol in Parliament.

Noting that Finland has fulfilled the promises it made to allay Türkiye's security concerns, President Erdoğan, at a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto in Ankara, said: "We have decided to launch the approval process of Finland's NATO membership protocol in our Parliament."

On Sweden's process, however, Erdoğan said their progress "will be directly linked to the concrete steps which Sweden will take."