Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing

ANKARA

Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

• NATO officially invited Finland and Sweden to become members of the military alliance.

• The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO is expected to be "unprecedentedly quick, within a few weeks," the military alliance's secretary general said in doorstep remarks at its ongoing summit in Madrid.

• NATO’s secretary general thanked Türkiye, Finland and Sweden for accepting his invitation “to engage in negotiations to find a united way forward.”

• The Turkish and US presidents agreed on "continued close consultations" between Washington and Ankara during a meeting in Madrid, said the White House.

• Türkiye welcomed Sweden and Finland's "constructive approach to address" Ankara's concerns as the parties signed a memorandum following a four-way meeting in Madrid.

• Key Republican Senator Lindsey Graham threw his support behind a decision by the US on upgrading Türkiye's F-16 fighter jet fleet.

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed Türkiye’s efforts to get grain out of Ukraine in his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Madrid.

• Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said talks on Sweden's NATO membership could take one year.

• Indirect talks between Iran and the US to revive the 2015 nuclear deal ended in the Qatari capital Doha without a result, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

• Denouncing the West’s push to forge military alliances in the Asia-Pacific region, China has told the UN Security Council that NATO’s expansion has “sowed the seed of conflict.”

• Türkiye took charge of a task group of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, which is responsible for the alliance’s naval operations and training activities in mine warfare.

• Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will not run in upcoming elections, said his spokesperson.

• A French court found Salah Abdeslam guilty of murder and terrorism in the 2015 Paris attacks trial.