WASHINGTON, July 2 (AFP) - US President Joe Biden will head to Europe in a week for a three-nation trip, including a NATO summit, focused on reinforcing the international coalition backing Ukraine as it pursues a counteroffensive against Russia.

Biden is set to depart on July 9 for Britain, and then head on to Lithuania's capital Vilnius for the meeting of NATO leaders, followed by a one-day visit to Helsinki for talks with his Nordic counterparts, the White House said Sunday in a statement.

The NATO summit comes as the Western military alliance seeks to admit Sweden, whose membership bid has been blocked by Turkey and Hungary, and as Ukraine intensifies its campaign to join amid Russia's invasion.

Finland became a full member of the bloc earlier this year.

Before heading to Europe, Biden will host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at the White House on Wednesday to discuss Stockholm's NATO ambitions.

Sweden asked to join the military alliance in May 2022, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine. Top diplomats from Turkey and Sweden will meet on Thursday, the day after Kristersson's White House visit, at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Turkey ultimately dropped objections to Finland joining earlier in the year.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week denounced Stockholm for allowing a protest during which a man burned pages from the Koran. On Sunday, the Swedish government called the incident "Islamophobic".

Western allies and Stockholm have insisted that Sweden has met the terms of a deal to join the alliance agreed to with Ankara last year.