Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO in the shadow of the war in Ukraine, ending two centuries of official non-alignment and capping two years of torturous diplomacy.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson halied country's entry into NATO as a "victory for freedom," as it turned the page on two centuries of non-alignment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden has made a free, democratic, sovereign and united choice to join NATO," he said at a ceremony in Washington with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.