NATO chief speaks with Erdogan about Finland, Sweden joining

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has met with Finlands prime minister and spoken to Turkeys president as he seeks to overcome Turkish resistance to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.

Stoltenberg, who visited Washington this week, tweeted late Friday that he met with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin while there and discussed the need to address Turkeys concerns and move forward with the Finnish and Swedish membership applications.

Russias war in Ukraine pushed the Nordic countries to apply to join NATO, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Sweden and Finland of supporting Kurdish militants deemed by Turkey to be terrorists.

Stoltenberg said he had a constructive phone call with Erdogan, calling Turkey a valued ally and praising Turkish efforts to broker a deal to ensure the safe transportation of grain supplies from Ukraine amid global food shortages caused by Russias invasion. Stoltenberg tweeted that he and Erdogan would continue their dialogue, without elaborating.

The NATO chiefs diplomatic efforts came before a gathering of senior officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey next week in Brussels, where NATO is based, to discuss Turkeys opposition to the applications.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)