President Biden is expected to talk to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Wednesday on the margins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, Mr. Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.
Ahead of the summit, which opened in Madrid on Tuesday, officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland have been holding talks in Brussels on the two Nordic countries’ application to join NATO, a request that is currently opposed by the Turkish government.
Mr. Sullivan said there was no fixed time or framework for the Biden-Erdogan meeting. He also said that although the issue of Sweden and Finland's NATO bids would come up, it wouldn’t be the central focus of the conversation.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg “has taken the lead appropriately and correctly in working with Finland and Sweden, on the one hand, and Turkey, on the other hand, to find a way forward that addresses Turkey's concerns and ultimately delivers Finland and Sweden's entry into the alliance," Mr. Sullivan said. "We believe that is how it should be and how it will remain."
He added: "The United States is not going to supplant the secretary-general or take on a brokering role in this. Rather, we're going to do what many other allies have done, which is to indicate publicly and privately that we believe it is in the interest of the alliance to get this done."
"We had a talk with Mr. Biden this morning," Mr. Erdogan told reporters before boarding his flight to Madrid on Tuesday. "He stated his desire to meet again this evening or tomorrow. We answered him that it is possible to meet again."
Mr. Erdogan objects to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, citing concerns about the two countries’ contacts with a Kurdish militant group and restrictions on arms sales to Turkey.
Both Nordic countries have promised to resolve the dispute through dialogue, and Sweden has accused Turkey of spreading misinformation during the dispute, an accusation Turkey has rejected.
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June 29, 2022 at 11:07AM
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Latest Ukraine-Russia News: NATO Summit Kicks Off as Russia Defends Mall Strike - The Wall Street Journal
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