BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has met with Finland鈥檚 prime minister and spoken to Turkey鈥檚 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 鈥渢he need to address Turkey鈥檚 concerns and move forward鈥� with the Finnish and Swedish membership applications.
Russia鈥檚 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 鈥渃onstructive phone call鈥� with Erdogan, calling Turkey a 鈥渧alued ally鈥� and praising Turkish efforts to broker a deal to ensure the safe transportation of grain supplies from Ukraine amid global food shortages caused by Russia鈥檚 invasion. Stoltenberg tweeted that he and Erdogan would continue their dialogue, without elaborating.
The NATO chief鈥檚 diplomatic efforts came before a gathering of senior officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey next week in Brussels, where NATO is based, to discuss Turkey鈥檚 opposition to the applications.