Erdogan, Biden to meet at Vilnius NATO summit

ISTANBUL

The presidents of Türkiye and the US agreed Sunday to have a one-on-one meeting at an upcoming NATO summit in Lithuania's capital Vilnius.

Türkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call with the US' Joe Biden, discussing a range of matters including Sweden's bid to join NATO and the US sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye, said a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate.

On Sweden's ongoing efforts to join NATO, which have faced opposition from Ankara due to security- and terrorism-related concerns, Erdogan told Biden that Stockholm took "correct steps" by passing recent anti-terror amendments, but these were nullified by flagrant demonstrations by sympathizers of the PKK terror group.

He also said it would be incorrect to associate Sweden's NATO accession with the sale of F-16 jets to Türkiye, while thanking his US counterpart for his support to Ankara on its desire to purchase the fighter aircraft from Washington.

The two leaders also discussed Türkiye's EU accession process and Ukraine's position vis-a-vis NATO during the call.

Underlining that Türkiye has been principled and honest on joining the EU, Erdogan said Ankara wanted to revive its accession process for full membership in the bloc.

He added that Türkiye wanted leading EU countries and the bloc's leadership to give a clear and strong message of support for its membership during the Vilnius summit.